


Ten Stories Tall

by TheRoguePhilosopher



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Romance, general danvers, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2018-11-15 22:07:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11240229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRoguePhilosopher/pseuds/TheRoguePhilosopher
Summary: Alex had a nasty habit of sitting on her fire escape, drinking her sorrows away, whenever she got into a funk.  Which was happening with increasing frequency and intensity.General Astra had gotten into the habit of flying around National City at night, noticing a woman sitting out on a balcony.Until Astra couldn't just watch her anymore.  She had to speak to her. The woman had caught her eye, and it wasn't long before she would catch more than that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So I only started watching this show at season 2 once I found out there were queers, and was so happy that I did...so until very, very recently, I didn't know that the General Danvers ship even existed. Now I'm going back through season 1, and even though I love me some Sanvers, I totally love this ship too!   
> *Slight AU story where Kara is out as Supergirl, and Astra is on earth, but not to be all evil-y like the show. So kind of the same universe, different plot from season 1? We could say?   
> Romance story, but it's not going to be all fluff. Girl meets Girl. Typical. Unless one is an alien and doesn't know that there's a bit of a family relation.  
> **Also, I am super tired right now and I don't have a beta, so there are probably commas living in the misspelling room, and improper subject/object agreement will be camping out in this front yard next to the skipped periods and such. Enjoy.

Alex opened the false-inside potted plant on her fire escape by lifting up the bamboo stem to reveal the secret compartment inside.

Marlboro Ultra Lights.

She already had finished one pour of scotch inside, now settling in to watch the street below with the cigarettes that she hid mostly from Kara, so they would be available for nights like this.

For nights when Alex Danvers knew she was a fucking failure.

Alex has grown accustomed to things going wrong.  Badly wrong.  Wrong enough that J’onn makes it a point to tell her it’ll be okay, and that it wasn’t her fault. 

When Alex watches someone get killed right in front of her because of an alien hostile that she, and she alone was responsible for tracking, sometimes, not always—but sometimes, Alex ends up on the fire escape.  With her secret stash, and a not-so-secret drink.  Alex at least some months ago brought out a little battery-powered camping style lamp, so she wouldn’t be above ground in complete darkness.

_Of course, he tells me it’s not my fault.  It’s his job to be a patronizing son of a bitch. Otherwise he’d have to fire me for negligence._

Alex laughed out loud to herself on that one, finishing her second drink, reaching over to light a cigarette.  It was a habit that Alex picked up in college when she was having a sad night and never looked back, keeping it to occasional usage when she was sitting on her fire escape, spiraling out of control. 

_First inhale is the worst._ Alex knew she had to get past the initial taste for the hit of the nicotine to take the edge off.

What scared Alex was that there were multiple opportunities in her line of work where she could truly, truly fuck up.  What if there was a mission where there wasn’t the loss of a life due to being misled, a mistake that anyone could have made, but one where there was a significant loss of life?

If Kara was hurt.

If she finally screwed up enough that J’onn no longer humored her with “it’s not your fault” or “we tried, that’s all we could do.” 

Because if she fucked up beyond repair, if she truly thought about it, she had nothing.  Her father was dead.  Her mother treated her like her only purpose on this planet was to protect her sister. 

That always _amazed_ Alex.  How on earth did they know to make a child, to make sure there was someone to protect a forthcoming, yet to be conceived child? At no point did Alex ever feel like her mother regarded her as a full person who existed separate from Kara. 

Alex never did well with friends.  As soon as she started working at the DEO and stopped going out to the bars, her bar friends were suddenly less interested in spending time with her.  Anyone outside of the bars she had to lie to, and they eventually would get tired of Alex being the one who always cancelled plans. 

Alex laughed to herself, lighting a second cigarette.  It’s how she paced herself with the drinking.  She was okay with being hung over tomorrow, she was taking the day off anyway.  She was not okay with spending the day puking.  

She only sat out on the fire escape when she felt completely and utterly alone.  It was somewhat relaxing to sit and watch the streets below, from so many stories above. 

What if everyone at the DEO finally had enough of her? 

_Alex Danvers, found incompetent and unfit to serve._

Alex rolled her eyes.  Would she walk in the door, and say to the cat, “Whiskers, Mommy’s fired?”

_I don’t even have a cat._

Alex poured another drink, reminding herself that if it weren’t for Kara, she wouldn’t bother keeping herself around.  The decision to give up a lucrative career at a teaching hospital, possibly curing every disease known to human and alienkind to keep watch over Kara should say something. 

Kara, who earlier, echoed J’onn’s “not your fault” sentiment.  Alex had responded with a resounding, “I want to go home.” 

Which Kara knew really meant, “I want to go home and be alone tonight.” 

Alex felt the fire escape dip, with the feeling of another’s weight pressing on the structure. 

Alex immediately froze, the hair on the back of her neck standing up straight.   She kept her body still, her breathing inaudible, but moved her eyes around. 

_Of course, I didn’t think to bring a weapon._

“I frightened you.”  A voice says from the floor above.  A woman’s voice.  It didn’t sound threatening, just observant.

Alex was immediately suspicious, as in the entire four years she’d lived in this apartment, nobody ever sat out on the fire escape like she did.  And what was further arousing Alex’s suspicions was that feeling the weight on the escape was not predicated by the sound of a window opening. 

Which meant Alex couldn’t account for how her uninvited guest ended up here.

“What makes you say that?” Alex looks down at the brown liquid swirling in the clear glass.  She hadn’t even though to put in an ice cube before climbing out, of course she wouldn’t have remembered a gun.

“Your heartrate spiked.” 

Alex was now most certainly on high alert. 

_Alien.  Just my luck._

“Forgive me, please.  I didn’t mean to frighten you.  It’s just…” 

Alex laughed to herself.  Of course, after a day of bad decisions, she’d climb out ten stories above the light evening traffic and make another one. 

“You used to only come out here once every few days.  Now, it seems like it’s every other day.  I was curious.” 

_An alien who’s been watching me.  Well, I walked right into this one._    _Let’s keep making poor decisions, Agent Danvers._

Alex downed the rest of her drink, getting up. 

“What are you doing?”  The woman asked, sitting down on the level above Alex. 

“Well, if I walked into a lions’ den of my own making, I’m at least having one more drink, before whatever is about to happen happens.”  Alex laughed cynically, walking over to the side she had ditched the bottle on, pouring herself more…one more?  Really two? 

At this point, there was no further point in keeping track of how many she was having. 

Alex looked up at the intruder, the bright, piercing hazel eyes and perfectly placed curls, accentuating a strong yet soft jawline was most certainly not what Alex had expected.  It stunned her for a moment. 

She figured this was an alien, so she expected a blue head. 

Fins.

Flipper ears. 

Something, anything but someone so human looking that it would give Kara a run for her money. 

Anything but breathtaking. 

Alex realized she was staring when the woman’s mouth pulled into a smirk, causing Alex to quickly jerk her gaze away.  The Agent was certain then that she would be pouring herself several more drinks that evening, which was usually her reaction whenever she saw another woman that she wanted to kiss. 

It was another part of her she had gotten used to burying, whether out of fear or familial duty, she couldn’t tell.  But she knew she felt it.  It situated itself on the list of feelings Alex experienced that she didn’t know how to deal with. 

“This is very forward of me, but I thought maybe one of these nights I could try a glass of whatever you’re having?”  Alex’s head snapped back up, smirk still firmly in place, the woman not appearing to pose any threat.

Other than seeming to be someone who went fire-escape-hopping in the darkness after 10 pm. 

Alex shrugged. 

_If I’m being targeted by an alien, at least she might have good taste.  What the fuck._

“Sure.  Wait here a sec.” 

Alex popped back inside, tucking a small hunting knife into her sock before grabbing a second glass from the kitchen. 

Alex hopped back out, seeing the alien was now on her level. 

The woman was slightly taller than her, slightly more muscular, but exponentially more poised, shoulders positioned for confidence as though it were part of her outfit. 

“I hope you like MacAllen.” Alex poured a generous single for her new window buddy, topping her own off with a splash.  She motioned for the alien to have a seat, which she did, positioning herself to the right side, legs out in front of her, facing Alex. 

“I shall soon see.  I’ve been curious, all these times you’ve been out here, and I’ve wondered what this is. Why it’s so…comforting.  Why you need to come outside to drink it.”

“You’ve never had alcohol?”  She watched as the woman took a generous gulp, seemingly regretting it as soon as it was in her mouth. 

She scrunched up her face, forcing it down with a swallow. 

“It’s rancid.”  She said, shuddering, looking down at the liquid.  “Are you sure this hasn’t gone bad?” 

“You’ve never had alcohol.”  Alex said this time as a statement. 

The woman shrugged.  “And I just learned that I wasn’t missing anything. Although to be fair, I have had Ale before, we just don’t make anything stronger where I come from.” 

“Which would be…” Alex fished not-so-subtly.

“One step at a time, Bright One.”  Alex laughed at the nickname, her logical nature finding it silly, but her logical nature didn’t control the blush that creeped up to her ears from hearing the term of endearment from someone so strikingly attractive. 

_Oh boy._

“Fine, then.  How about names.  I’m Alex.”  The agent stuck out her hand before she realized that meant she would be touching this woman.

Suddenly routine introductions seemed more intimate than prodding into personal history.

“My name is Astra.” A strong, soft hand intertwined around Alex’s, wrapping itself around Alex’s skin slowly, taking the time to shake in a way that was more of a motion of holding hands for three too long and not-long-enough seconds. 

“I am deducing from this conversation that you’ve been watching me out here.  Is that right?” 

Astra’s gaze held steady, as though she was learning more about Alex from studying her face than her line of questioning. 

The soft glow of the lamp made this Astra person’s cheekbones appear to shimmer, as the metal frame makeshift balcony felt less like the lion’s den, the foot between the two women feeling like mere inches.

A nod confirmed as much.  It was then that Alex noticed a silver streak through the woman’s hair, which made no sense to Alex.  The woman was dressed not unlike Alex dressed for light combat—just in a one piece zip up instead of Alex’s preferred earth-style two piece.  Nothing pointed to “hippie with random hair dyed pieces” 

Then again, nothing about the woman’s appearance screamed “dangerous stalker”.  Instead, it screamed lost alien. 

_Not every alien needs to be hunted_.  Alex needed to reminder herself of this. 

Just most of them. 

“Why would someone drink something so terrible?”  Astra asked genuinely. 

“It’s an acquired taste, that’s for sure.  But it’s effects outweigh any initial taste barrier.”  Alex looked down at her own drink.  If this woman thought her most expensive scotch wasn’t worth her time, she was glad she wasn’t attempting to woo her with the plastic bottle that lives next to it on the inside shelf. 

Woo-ing?  Is that what was really going to happen?

_Not likely._

Astra noticed Alex’s face fall, as though she had just lost some internal battle that she was never aware of in the first place.

“Well, if it’s the effects that we’re after, then it seems I have some catching up to do.”  Astra downed the rest of her drink, motioning towards the bottle on Alex’s other side.  “How many do I need to catch up to you.” 

Alex smiled, shaking her head.  “Oh no.  Maybe just one more for you.  I have a tolerance built up. You’re new to this.”  Astra kept her hand extended, clearly expecting the goods to be handed over to her anyway. She waited patiently, with a tight smile. Eventually Alex relinquished, handing the bottle over to let Astra pour herself another one. 

The alien poured the equivalent of three shots, downing them all in one big, unappealing gulp. 

“Astra.”  Alex gasped, learning then that the attractive woman’s name wasn’t something that was spoken so much as breathed. 

“Am I catching up?” 

“Why are you out here on the fire escape?”  Alex asked boldly, noticing it didn’t make the smile on Astra’s face fade any, so she figured she was still within bounds. 

“Are you willing to answer the same questions you pose to me this evening?”  Astra bantered back, her side touching into Alex’s. 

Alex hadn’t even noticed when they moved to sit right next to each other, touching sides.  The older Danvers used knocking into Astra playfully with her arm as an excuse for more contact. 

Touching Astra’s side wasn’t any less intoxicating than touching her hand, despite the cloth barriers.

“I suppose that’s only fair.  I come out here when I’m upset and I want to be alone.” 

“Well, then clearly you are a failure.” 

“Excuse me?”  Alex asked, unable to stop herself from smiling confusedly at the alien. 

“Not only are you not alone, but you no longer appear upset.” 

“Maybe I have a new reason to be out here now.”  The scotch certainly wasn’t stopping Alex’s blush, but it also wasn’t doing anything to stop her mouth. 

“I’m glad if you do.  I was out here because I like to be out at night, also when I want to be alone.  When I’m worried.  Fresh, cool night air calms me.  The first time I saw you out here was a few weeks ago, and…you intrigue me.  I’ve made it a habit to pass by here whenever I’m out. The frequency of your poison breaks,” Astra held up the bottle of menacingly brown liquid, “was increasing. It worried me.” 

“Well.”  Alex swallowed.  If the bold train was leaving the station, Alex saw no reason to pull it back in now.  “You intrigue me as well.” 

The smile that shone back at Alex made the nerve that it required worth it. 

“Another?”  Astra offered, now clearly deciding she alone would be in charge of the bottle. 

“Please.”  Alex agreed, holding out her glass.  If only she could stop staring at curls and a chin and piercing yet soft eyes, if only she could never have a reason for her shoulder to stop touching a shoulder.

Alex suddenly went from hoping for a few hard drinks and an early evening, to hoping the sun never came up, her evening with the new alien for as long as possible.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

“Pizza, potstickers, tacos, and ice cream.  I figured why the heck not.”  Alex said, dropping the feast she had spent the last hour procuring down on Kara’s kitchen table. 

“Alright!”  Kara said, immediately diving in for the tiny dumpling pockets of juicy goodness that she had been waiting for, although usually Alex didn’t go through the trouble of getting quite so much. 

Usually, when it was Alex’s turn, she stopped at one restaurant, not multiples, and got only half as much food as Kara could handle, so they always ended up ordering more anyway.  And usually Alex fought for her small yet noble fifteen percent of the grub. 

Instead, Alex was all but letting Kara demolish the potstickers, opening a soft taco.  Kara observed the unusual behavior, cheeks full-on chipmunk stuffed with sodium, suddenly becoming worried. 

She watched Alex nibble on the taco. 

_Nibble_. 

“What’s wrong?” Kara asked, still keeping her somewhat wild animal inspired stance over the potstickers, but very seriously contemplating offering one to Alex. 

“Nothing’s wrong.” 

Now Kara was worried.  She abandoned the food haul momentarily, sitting across from Alex at the kitchen table. 

“You’re nibbling.”  

“I got enough for both of us this time, Kara.  No need to wolf it down.”  Alex smiled, seemingly thrilled with throwing Kara off-kilter.  “Besides, you promised me a rainy day movie marathon, one from every genre.”  Alex started moving a few servings of the food into the living room, leaving Kara gaping mouthed behind her. 

Alex abandoned a half-eaten taco right in front of her. 

It was like her big sister had no survival instincts left whatsoeve

* * *

 

Alex had no idea how long she had been stroking her own cheek before noticing the habit and pulling herself out of it. 

She snapped her hand off of her cheek, having caught herself for the third time during only the first movie stroking a particular spot on her right cheek, wondering if the night before had been real.  If she had made the whole thing up.  If she had been so drunk that she’d hallucinated another person. 

The thought that it was indeed a possibility interrupted her temporary giddiness and inserted a wash of feeling pathetic, that Alex quickly stuffed down with a spoonful of ice cream. 

What if it wasn’t real. 

But what if it was—what if the tingling on her right cheek that she had been gifted with at one in the morning was indeed really there? 

Alex smiled to herself, side watching Kara becoming further absorbed into the romantic comedy. 

* * *

 

_Alex had been amazed at just how easy it was to open up to Astra, enjoying the company as the night cooled down.  She had hoped that Astra asking about things Alex liked to do would lead to learning more about her new alien friend._

_Friend? Is that the term for someone who crashes her personal space with her genetically engineered perfection? Who drew her in with such electricity that if this were a dream Alex was sure she was being electro-shocked in some way? In the very best, most tingly way, of course._

_“I spend a lot of time at the shooting range.  I like to rent and try different rifles.  I mean, I rarely need a rifle for actual work and we have plenty of pistols, so when I get a chance to try something just for fun…”  Alex had let it drop that she was somewhat of a police officer, keeping it vague.  She doubted the alien would appreciate learning she worked for a branch of the government that mostly arrested aliens._

_Astra had let it be known that she was a military woman back on her home planet, but still refused to explain further.  Alex still had no idea where in the galaxy the woman was from._

_“So, you’re telling me that this planet has places where you can just try new weapons for fun?”  Alex couldn’t tell if the response was nervous or excited._

_“Yes! You should come try it some time.  As long as you don’t lug in a bazooka, they’re pretty cool with shooting whatever.  Oh, and as long as you have a license…which you--”_

_“Can have whipped up by my central command if need be.”  Astra said, winking at Alex as she wrapped her arm around the smaller woman’s bicep._

_Alex’s grin broke out, shining in the dim light when Astra made no move to let go.  The both let the contact linger, looking down at the street below.  There were little side shops that were still open late into the night, with the occasional passer-by stopping to complain about the prices. There were a few cars here and there, but mostly they could see a cross section of the National City skyline, straight through to city hall, lit up in red, white, and blue, strong enough to be seen across the city, but dim enough for a few stars to still be visible._

_Alex was cataloging in her head, as she always did.  As a scientist, she worked with data sets. And she had gained quite a bit of data so far._

_Namely, every time she had been bold with Astra, she had been rewarded with boldness returned.  It was a pattern she hoped to continue to replicate._

_So Alex moved to be bold again, letting her head rest on Astra’s shoulder, switching the way their arms were linked so that her hands were wrapped around the alien woman’s bicep, where she didn’t hesitate to squeeze._

_And Alex was pleased with what she felt flexing under her palms, suspecting the stranger was letting the muscle put on a little show before letting her own head rest on the human’s._

_Alex closed her eyes.  The view of National City was spectacular, but she could see it any night.  Instead, she focused in the feel of Astra’s shoulder; Astra’s head on her own.  The woman who had started the night as an anomaly was fitting nicely into Alex’s side, puzzle pieces fitting together before they even knew they were in pieces._

_Alex swore she felt lips that had most likely grown tired from chatting press into the crown of her head._

_Alex also swore that she lived in a world where gorgeous women don’t just drop out of the sky._

_Unless they do._

* * *

 

“So I thought maybe I could just date both of them, but I’m not that kind of person, you know?” 

“Yeah.  Really.”  Alex feigned interest, not really paying attention to Kara or the movie.

Instead, she was on a very special archeological dig, where any hiding cookie dough chunks didn’t stand a chance.  They would be dug up, one by one, until Alex could wrap her head around how the basic physical contact she had the night before with a woman she’d never met had given her an emotional response beyond anything she’d felt previously. 

Kara looked at Alex, noticing how much she was a little too fascinated with her pint. 

“It was then that I found out they were both aliens.  So I was like, ‘I’m an alien, you’re both aliens.  Threesomes aren’t uncommon where we come from.’ So we did.  Right there in the office.” 

“Yeah. Totally.  Go for it.” 

Kara rolled her eyes.  Alex was definitely out of this conversation.  She scooted herself on the couch closer to her sister, taking the pint out of her hand. 

“Alex.  Whatever is going on right now—you can tell me.  Okay?”

“I’m sorry.  I’m just a little distracted.”  Kara laughed out loud. 

“You’re not distracted.”  Alex looked up, a little more than confused. “You seem happy!”

“Happy?”  Alex said the word as though it were as foreign as Kryptonian.  When was the last time Alex had felt truly happy? 

“Yes.  That thing that makes you not be an asshole to everyone after a rough mission, where you buy us more than enough food _and even share_ , where you keep staring off into space smiling when you think I don’t notice.” 

Alex looked down, blushing, her hand going back to her cheek. 

“I just…” Alex trailed off. 

How long had it been since she just opened up to Kara? Since she even tried to be a full, happy person instead of a stressed-out broody asshole? 

She looked at Kara, looking at her so innocent and bright, like a personal embodiment of sunshine.  It made Alex’s stomach sink.

How was she supposed to explain to her little sister that a stranger dropped out of the sky last night and jump-started her back into feeling alive?

And that it was a woman?

An alien woman?

Alex shook her head. “I don’t even know where to start.”  

“Then don’t just start—just…Alex, I think this is a ripping-the-band-aid-off situation maybe.”  If Kara were being truthful, she really wanted Alex to rip the band aid off because something was bringing back the Alex she grew up with, side by side, and she wanted to know _everything_. 

Alex looked at Kara and opened her mouth, shutting it again.  Then opened it.  Then shut. 

“I’m--” Kara sat patiently, letting Alex put her thoughts together. 

“Last night. I met someone.” Alex immediately braced herself for the squealing that was sure to come.

Alex was indeed correct.

“Oh my—Alex!  That’s great!  Wow!  What’s he like? This just started last night? What does he look like?”

Alex paused again. 

_Rip it off, Danvers._

“She. What does _she_ look like.”  Kara’s eyebrows shot up before she scooted even closer to Alex.  She was interested now indeed. 

“Alex. Danvers.  My big tough sister—branching out in the dating pool?” Kara couldn’t even pretend to be shocked as she said it. 

She’d see Alex check out too many women, blushing and looking away quickly thinking Kara hadn’t noticed, but she had.  She’d watched Alex stop dating men years earlier, followed by a newfound love of binge drinking. Kara always suspected, but was afraid to bring it up. 

Kara’s smile shone when Alex blushed instead of answering. 

“Tell me everything.  Hm?  What is she like?”

“Kara,” Alex paused, looking straight into Kara’s overjoyed face, “no one has ever made me feel like this.”

* * *

 

_This time when Alex closed her eyes, she definitely felt lips on her forehead.  There was no maybe about it.  It gave her a shudder, building on the first kiss she had felt._

_They had been talking for hours, Alex rubbing her arm, telling Astra about her sister without giving too much away, her job without giving too much away, not realizing that her sighs whenever Astra touched her hand or nuzzled into her hair gave away everything._

_Alex knew now that Astra had been on earth for a year as part of her military responsibilities, but that she had avoided it for as long as possible because someone in her family had once tried to come to earth, but never made it, disappearing in space to never be heard from again._

_Astra knew that Alex was more beautiful up close than she’d ever imagined when she had flown past undetected, noticing the redhead so many times, but never having the nerve to talk to her._

_Until tonight._

_“Are you cold?” Astra asked, moving to uncurl Alex’s grip on her arm in favor of wrapping it around the smaller human’s body, rubbing up and down her arm._

_“Mmm.  Much better.”  Alex opened her eyes again, looking down at the street.  The grocer down on the corner was re-stocking the front display of produce._

_“I still don’t know what most of those are.”  Astra said, also looking down at the man who looked so tiny from where they were sitting._

_“What?  The fruits?”_

_Astra nodded, keeping her arm around Alex._

_“I mean, we had fruit on my planet, but everywhere you go it’s different.  Every planet has planets that taste of their location.  I haven’t tried very much here because I don’t know what’s what.”_

_“Well.  How about next time you come visit me, I can make sure I have some on hand for you to try.  Lots of different kinds.”  Alex ventured out into scarier territory: hinting at wanting to see Astra again.  Not wanting this night to be the only one._

_“You’d want me to come back?”  Astra asked, sounding happy, but surprised.  Alex nodded.  “Why?”_

_“Because,” Be bold, Danvers, “You make me feel like I’m flying even when I’m not going anywhere.”_

_Astra smile pulled her entire face up, eyes squinting into the smile._

_“Next time.  You can show me what to try, and maybe I can make you feel like you’re flying by actually taking you to fly.  If you’d like.”_

_Alex knew that narrowed down her alien choices considerably.  Astra was either Kryptonian, like Kara, or Martian, like J’onn._

_She hoped for the former.  Not that she wouldn’t still have these feelings if Astra was a shape-shifter, but if she were looking at a face that wasn’t truly hers, she would be disappointed._

_“I would like that.”_

_And then, Alex felt it._

_She felt the lips that had formerly pressed so tenderly on the top of her head appearing on her cheek, making her breath catch and her eye close.  She took in the feeling of Astra’s breath across her skin—and then it was over, but the feeling lingered, a gentle tingle._

_“Next time, then.”  She heard Astra say, opening her eyes in time to see the bright smile that she was very quickly getting used to, before the woman nodded, standing up, and then taking off straight into the sky._

_Straight up.  Not the sideways, airplane-like take off of a Martian.  Definitely Krptonian._

_Alex let out an exhale, sitting frozen in place, moving her hand up to her cheek._

_“Next time.”  She said quietly._

 


	3. Three Days

 

After three nights of not seeing Astra, Alex Danvers was starting to go crazy. 

Correction: after three nights of not seeing Astra, not knowing where to find her or how to contact her, unsure still if her night staying up with Astra was real or a fermentation-derived hallucination, Alex was slowly driving herself crazy with outlandish scenarios, and no real plan for how to rectify the situation.

The first night, Alex didn’t want to seem desperate.  After all, Kara was a bundle of hugs and cuddles, and had been since day one on earth.  What if Kryptonians were just naturally affectionate?  What if she had misread the situation?

And anyway, she didn’t like the idea of just sitting out on the fire escape, looking like a lost puppy waiting for her alien owner to come home.  But she couldn’t think of any other way to maybe see Astra.  At all.  Even Kara had no knowledge that there were other Kryptonians on earth besides her cousin, much less a military expedition. Although, if those two had survived in their pods, it shouldn’t be such a shock that another one was able to get here. 

One that Alex couldn’t last more than a waking hour without thinking about, an ache starting in her stomach wondering when they might cross paths.

If she didn’t sit out on the fire escape, hoping that Astra would walk—or if she were realistic, fly by—how else was she supposed to see her? 

So, the night after she had met Astra, Alex climbed outside.  She thought it would be a bad idea to get drunk again, lest Astra only show up when she was good and wasted.  It would only further point to her “I’m so lonely I imagined an attractive woman” theory that she was really hoping wasn’t the correct one. 

_The cigarettes_ , Alex thought.  _Then it just looks like I’m popping out for a smoke, not desperately scanning the skies for a woman with a silver hair streak._   

Alex sat out on the balcony, and lit a cigarette.  When nobody dropped in, she popped in her ear buds, deciding she would at least enjoy some music while watching the tiny passers-by on the street below. 

Astra never showed. 

On the second night, Alex had started to let go of the idea that Astra was real, bringing the cheap plastic whisky outside with her instead of the good stuff. 

_Of course, it was too good to be true.  Women don’t just fall out of the sky._

Alex should have been surprised at how little it took for her to fall right back into her cycle: coast through work that she wasn’t completely invested in unless it directly involved Kara, blame herself for anything that ever did or could possibly go wrong, ignore as many phone calls and texts from her mother, snap at anyone who tried to make small talk with her throughout the day, sit outside with a drink and sulk.  The agent was resigning herself to the night being a fluke. 

Feeling alive was now a fluke.  A blip on her otherwise numb radar. It seemed like even Kara had started avoiding her, especially outside of work.

When the breeze shifted and moved to whip left to right as the night air set in, Alex swore if she closed her eyes and just listened, she could feel Astra’s lips on her forehead. 

She remembered Astra’s arm around her, securing her for a brief window in time, her hand squeezing just the right place and the right time as they spoke, fingers existing as five forms of gentle encouragement. 

What if she never got told Astra’s hand? Would their one handshake be all she would have to remember?

Was it possible to hallucinate a physical touch?

On the third night, Alex didn’t bother going outside.  It was raining, and if Astra both wanted to see her and actually existed, she knew which window belonged to Alex. 

* * *

 

The rain that had started in the evening carried on straight through to the next, with little pockets here and there of dryness, only to have the rain come back harder than before. 

And now that Alex found her brain wandering to thoughts of what was clearly a long-gone Astra while at work, she decided she needed to clear her head, or not only would she get herself killed, but possibly everyone else who worked with her. 

Alex locked the special issue handgun and five magazines of ammunition in a variety of materials that were most certainly not standard government issues.  She had decided to blow off some steam at the shooting range, which was a great way to get used to how bullets of different materials fired differently. 

It was quiet, as it always was, at the range on a weeknight.  Alex preferred it that way.  She didn’t have to worry about the sound of shots coming from other lanes distracting her.  The first load of ammo she loaded into her gun were bullets made of meteorite metals.  They were an experimental idea, and Alex was about to find out if they were a smooth shot. 

Loaded. Both hands on the weapon, finger on trigger.  Glasses on. 

Shots fired, yet Alex hadn’t even pulled the trigger. 

_What the hell?_

Alex watched as the human outline figure that was her target in front of her was pierced over and over again, none of the bullets hers. 

“Hey!”  Alex yelled, pissed beyond belief. 

It was just rude.  It doesn’t matter how bad of a shot you are, you shoot the target in your own lane.  That was like throwing a bowling ball at someone else’s pins, or winking at someone else’s wife. 

It was just plain _rudeness_. 

Alex knocked on the divider, before backing around to give whatever fuckwad was wrecking her target a piece of her mind. 

What she saw on the other side of the divider stunned her, Alex doubling back for a moment to catch her breath, putting down her modified Glock, switching on the safety, before closing her eyes. 

_This is impossible._

Alex heard the shots stop, and willed herself to peek at the other side again. 

Tall, dark hair, black tight zip-up, silver hair streak. 

It was her. 

Alex’s heart was immediately pounding, both from the sudden proximity to the mysterious woman from Krypton and from the knowledge that Astra was somewhere Alex explicitly told her was her usual hang out. 

The woman who captivated Alex’s thoughts had actively sought her out. 

The thought calmed and ramped up her nerves all at once. 

Astra put down the pistol, clearly a rental, as turned around, smiling when she saw that her instincts had been correct—she was turning around to greet Alex. 

“Astra.”  Alex breathed out, taking a step closer, but unsure where to go from there. 

_Can I hug her? Touch her at all?_

Astra noticed the hesitation, making the move to pull Alex into the warmth of her body, wrapping her arms around the agent’s shoulders, using a hand to gently cup the back of her head.  She smiled wider when she felt Alex reciprocate, smaller yet strong arms moving around to allow hands to run up and down the alien’s back, two hands running along shoulder blades like they had done so a hundred times. 

Astra’s grip tightened, as though the greeting were more urgent than anticipated, but Alex made no move to let go. She didn’t understand why they had sudden electricity between them, or how it powered back on like the night they had spent together previously never even ended.

“I was hoping that was you coming in here tonight, Bright One.”  Astra left out how she had been scouting out the shooting range every night, hoping that Alex would turn up. 

She reasoned that only a lunatic would help themselves to someone’s window, and she definitely didn’t want to let on how many times she had actually flown past Alex previously, going slow enough to notice Alex each and every time until the night she gathered the courage to talk to her, but fast enough that Alex never noticed her. 

Especially now that more than just the two of them knew about her evening fire escape visit. Astra was kicking herself for that one.

Alex burrowed into Astra’s neck, inhaling.  She didn’t smell like a perfume, or scented soap—she just smelled fresh.  Fresh, soft, impenetrable, perfect skin.

_I wonder if I can kiss her here.  Just on the neck. She kissed me on the head.  Twice.  Is the skin on a forehead all that different than on a neck?  But it is different—it could be crossing the line._

“Well, it is me.” Alex answered. 

Astra paused for a moment, before pulling back ever-so-slightly.  “I’m not supposed to be seeing you anymore.” 

Alex stayed in Astra’s arms, but started an internal panic.  “Wait-what?  Why?”  She studied Astra’s face. 

She looked scared. 

Alex couldn’t imagine that if Astra was here on earth as a military posting that anyone involved would approve of Astra spending what very nearly could be described as a date with Alex, a human who hunted aliens.  But how would they even know?

“It’s complicated, but there are powers that be that are less than approving of my choice to consort with you.” Hazel eyes met greenish brown. 

“Then why are you here?”  Alex asked, conveying with a squeeze of her hands that “here” is where Alex wanted her. 

“Because I couldn’t not see you again.” 

* * *

 

Astra was strong. 

Alex had known in her head that as a Kryptonian, lifting a couch with one hand or even picking up a car would be like moving a grape. 

So, as they flew, Astra flying them at a reduced speed so that Alex didn’t get too cold, she knew that Astra could probably hold her with just one arm, like Kara did when she was rescuing people.  They flew away from the rain, naturally drying off once they hit dry air.

That didn’t mean that Alex wouldn’t take advantage of the opportunity for more, keeping both of her arms wrapped around Astra’s neck, while both of the alien’s arms held her close, as they shot through the night sky.  They were front-to-front, a reality Alex couldn’t properly address if she wanted to maintain the ability to hold Astra close without shaking.  The logical part of Alex’s brain knew that letting an alien she had only met once fly her around was incredibly risky.  If this were a very deceptive foreign threat, Alex was putting herself in a very vulnerable position.

It was a pure, passing, logical thought.  That Alex couldn’t bother to entertain. 

They landed in a field of trees. Where? She had no idea.  The sky was dark, and there were no lights, but the trees appeared to be growing in very calculated, manicured, straight lines.  Like on a farm. 

Not like—Astra took her to a farm. 

“I kept my promise, so I’m hoping you can keep yours.”  Astra said pointing up at the tree she guided them under. 

Alex reached up, not able to see completely well in the dark, even with the moonlight, but grabbed and pulled. 

“Peaches.”  Alex knew they were far away from National City if she was standing under a peach tree.  From what Alex could see as she squinted around, they were all peach trees. 

“You were going to show me earth fruits, so…”  Astra reached up, mimicking Alex’s motion, pulling down a peach.  “I fly over these trees sometimes and I’ve wondered if these are safe to eat. I thought not likely, since they have fur.” 

Alex smiled, ignoring the logical side of her brain that reminded her they were most likely trespassing on a farm, and now they were about to steal produce. 

It’s not like any angry farmers were going to be out at night.  And if they were, she’d be willing to bet they couldn’t fly after them. 

“Astra, the tough military strategist, afraid of peaches.”  Alex moved to bring the peach in her hand up to her own mouth, pausing for a moment, before her hand decided to change course.  “There is a version of these that don’t have fur called nectarines, but I actually prefer the peaches. They’re sticky and sweet.  Try.”  Alex could see Astra’s eyes widen in the moonlight, as her brain registered that Alex Danvers, the Bright One, who in her head she had started referring to as “my Alex”, was offering to feed her by hand. 

In a move that was perhaps just as trusting as Alex allowing her to fly them, Astra wrapped a hand around Alex’s wrist, biting into the fruit gently at first, and upon tasting the first tartness, more firmly. 

“They’re…I don’t know how to describe it, but I like it. It reminds me of Hopper fruits from Krypton, except ours don’t have juices that run.”  Astra acknowledged that point by quickly wiping her chin with her sleeve.  Alex pulled the fruit back, taking a bite herself. 

“They’re perfect.”  She said. 

“You’re perfect.”  Astra let slip out, immediately panicking.  “I mean to say that--”

Alex’s lips silenced Astra, only for a second. 

For a brief moment, Alex allowed them peak happiness, leaving no room for maybe or misunderstanding.

For a moment, Alex connected her mouth with what she decided right there was the softest mouth in the universe, feeling the elation of energy shooting up her spine. 

When she pulled back, she immediately started cataloging all of the things she wanted to do with Astra.  If promises of fruit and flying made her feel like she had won the lottery and became the president all at once, she couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to do more things with Astra. 

She wondered what Astra looked like in the daylight.  Not sneaking around at night. Not the bare-bulb lighting of the gun range.

What she looked like when she wasn’t wearing military black. 

“Come home with me.”  Alex said. 

“You mean now? We just got here, and you want me to take you home already?”  Astra frowned, but was confused.  Maybe she had said too much too quickly.  But Alex had kissed her, and she knew that meant the same thing on _every_ planet. 

“Astra, I want you to come home _with_ me.  As in you fly us back, and come inside with me.”

“Oh.”  Astra smiled, lacing her fingers with Alex’s.  That meant the same thing on every planet as well, she was sure of it.  “Okay, but first.” 

“First?”  Alex asked before Astra’s lips were on hers, sealing them together.  The human tasted like the peach they had shared, but like more, and she couldn’t help but kiss more deeply.  Her hands cupped Alex’s cheeks at first, before moving to her hair. She probed, feeling warmth, and wetness. 

She felt connected, at a cellular level.

Astra decided then, as a soft, sensitive part of her swirled around inside of Alex’s welcoming mouth, she would go home with Alex as many times as Alex would allow, regardless of who would tell her not to. 

 


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I've re-written this chapter 4 times and I'm still unhappy with it, so I'm just posting it so we can all move on with our lives, okay? Okay.

Fireplace, couch, table, balcony. 

Astra catalogued the items inside of Alex’s apartment nervously, never having dreamed she’d ever be inside, with the woman she used to fly by at night nervously opening a bottle of wine.  She continued looking around, trying to keep her nervous thoughts from flying away, using her calming technique from the military. Everything was just so _Alex_ —functional, yet beautiful and a tad mysterious. Monochrome, with a slight scent of the pacific coast.

Count each item. Memorize its place. So many, many items to memorize. Try not to be--nervous? Is that what she felt, now that she was invited into Alex's home for the first time?

She especially didn’t expect to be here after learning what the consequences could be.  But as soon as she saw Alex again—no, as soon as she even _thought_ about seeing Alex again, she knew the warnings to stay away, as selfish as they were not to follow, were falling on deaf ears and a swollen heart. 

General Astra especially tried to avoid remembering being scolded like a petulant teenager the day before, concentrating instead, as much as she could, on her surroundings. 

Even if she was breaking a promise.

* * *

 

**_Two Days Earlier_ **

Another airplane passed with what were clearly duct taped cracks on the wings, causing Astra to roll her eyes.  She enjoyed soaring so high up she knew none of the humans would ever identify her as a flying being, feeling the cooling sensation of flying through clouds.  But sometimes she saw something so unintelligent, even this high up, that even she was surprised.

“Even I wouldn’t attempt to use metallic tape to fix something that would travel at this altitude. Ah, humans!”

“You’d be surprised how well the duct tape works on planes.” 

Astra’s head snapped to the right, not having expected another voice flying this high up. 

“Kara.” 

Astra started to free-fall down towards earth for a frightening second before catching herself, steadying to float in the air in place. 

She had immediately recognized her niece.  She would know that face anywhere, even though the last she had seen of it, she was a pre-teen, struggling to learn to fly herself.  Astra took in the super-suit, taking a moment to kick herself for never realizing—

“You’re Supergirl.” She said plainly. 

Of course, no newspaper had ever gotten a clear, up close shot of Supergirl.  While Astra figured there was a good chance that the Supergirl she had seen on earth television and in the papers was Kryptonian, they never got a shot of her face. 

She never imagined it was Kara, her own niece, who she thought died over a decade earlier.  The niece she had grieved, accepting she would never see her own flesh-and-blood again. 

Now, floating before her, miles above National City, was Kara Zor-El.  Astra’s eyes were wide.  It took a lot to shock Astra, after the things she’s seen in the last ten years of military service, but seeing a very much alive Kara was doing it.  She was barely keeping herself in the air as she floated face-to-face with the very grown up Kara.

“How? I didn’t—Kara? When?” 

Kara relaxed when she heard how badly here mere presence had her Aunt stuttering. 

Her worst-case scenario that had run through her head a hundred times since Alex described to her the woman with the silver stream in her hair, the only Kryptonian woman she had ever known to wear such a fashion, was that Aunt Astra was on earth, knew where she was, and was purposefully avoiding her.  At least that proved wrong.  The woman was clearly surprised to see her.

“We should talk.”  Kara said. 

Astra nodded, before floating closer.

“What are you--”

“Shhh.  Little one.”  Astra said, pulling her into a hug. 

It was the first time Astra had touched family in a decade.

* * *

 

One thing that always struck Astra about the inside of human buildings was just how much _stuff_ was accumulated inside.  Truly, humans had a thing for shelves housing useless knick-knacks and functional items that would be used once and never used again.

Krypton had been minimalist.  Functionalist. It was a comfort.

Now, standing in Kara’s very earth-influenced apartment, listening to Kara describe the last fourteen years of her life, Astra couldn’t help but wonder: if she had left with Kara, if she had raised her instead—would she have a Kryptonian-style home? Would they speak in Kryptonian, or would they be trying to blend in?

Was Kara scared when she arrived on earth completely alone, and learned to live in a room in a house that looked and felt anything but Kryptonian?

The normally stiff military officer cringed, flooding herself with self-loathing for the absenteeism that she knew wasn’t her fault, but that she felt through every limb nonetheless.

Astra filled Kara in on why she was on earth now, and what planets she had been on previously.  She was impressed but not surprised that her Aunt would be involved with such a mission.

Kara told Astra everything about how she became Supergirl, and how it started with saving her sister from danger. 

Astra’s ears perked up with the way that Kara emphasized the word “sister” every time she said it.

“My _sister_ is very important to me.”

“They are my family.  You’re my family too, but I have an earth Mom, and an earth _sister_.”

“Technically, they’re like your family too.  My _sister_ and I are close enough, that you’re practically her Aunt too.” 

Astra couldn’t take it anymore.  Was Kara’s earth sister a robot? Something else that warranted such blatant emphasis? 

Or was it to rub in how this sister was here for her, when her own Aunt wasn’t?

“Well then, I should hope to meet her someday.” Astra nodded gratefully, taking the iced tea Kara had poured and brought over to the couch. 

“Well, that’s the thing.”  Kara took in a deep breath, sitting cross-legged facing a relative she didn’t know existed until the night before.  “You have met her.”

“I have?  I don’t talk to humans very much, to be honest with you.  Not that I don’t interact with them, of course, but--”

“It’s Alex.”  Kara said. 

The look on Astra’s face confirmed that Kara had pieced together the whole story very quickly. 

The woman who had dazzled Alex, jump starting her spark, but also causing a borderline-incest situation that had made Kara _very_ uncomfortable as soon as she started to put it all together, was indeed her Aunt.  A blood relative. 

A blood relative, who had gone on essentially a date, albeit an accidental one ten stories off the ground, with her earth sister. 

But to Kara, the two weren’t different.  Astra was her family. Alex was her family.  For her, it was literally hearing a family member dating a family member.  She couldn’t wrap her head around how it would be different for Astra or Alex—to the two of them, they most certainly were _not_ family. 

“Oh.”  Astra felt as though the wind were knocked out of her.  “That’s a strange coincidence.” 

“So, you can see, how it would be very, very bad, if you were, let’s say, if at any point…”

Once Kara trailed off, Astra knew that Kara knew she had visited Alex that night on the fire escape. 

“…if there were romantic feelings.  You mean.”  Astra said plainly. 

Kara nodded. 

“Aunt Astra,” Kara took her Aunt’s hands in her own, feeling the immediate buzz between their skin that only happened when a Kryptonian touched another Kryptonian, “you can’t date my sister.  Can you please, just, not? It’s family.  I can’t have my family dating my family, it’s just—it would be too weird.  And I just now got you back, you know? Can you please just get to know me, before you even start talking to my sister? Please?” 

Kara had the biggest, saddest looking beggar eyes that Astra had ever seen.  It was also the look her niece had perfected years ago, knowing her Aunt had a soft spot for her. 

Astra nodded, staring off to the side. 

“I won’t.”  She closed her eyes, cursing that this would be her luck.  That as soon as she found a surviving family member, she’d have to give something else up.

Someone else.

_My Alex.  My Bright one._

_What am I going to do?_

* * *

 

Astra tried to distract herself from thinking about Alex, but every night, she couldn’t help herself. 

She was on military day shift, a General of the Elite Paladin force, which did not require her to work all hours of the day like before she was promoted to her current rank.  During the day, she could distract herself with duties—watch the humans, save the humans from themselves.

It had amazed Astra that Supergirl seemed to think she was the only alien saving humans.  There were dozens of them, all unified under Astra’s army, they just didn’t all feel the need to be flashy about it. 

Posing for pictures.

Flying around in a flashy uniform.

No, the Paladins weren’t supposed to be seen. The humans had no idea that there was a guiding force stepping in, holding back floods, stopping suicide jumpers, catching people jumping from burning buildings—moving so fast that those rescued could only describe their survival as a “miracle”.

Astra smacked herself in the head as soon as she started to piece it together.  Of course, Kara was flashy about it.  She truly did think she was the only one.  Her and her cousin, the only survivors.  The only ones saving humans. 

No wonder they had to make it flashy; to show the world aliens could be good. 

They had no idea they were two of many. 

Or that it was Astra’s _job_ to do those very same things—but to do so undetected.

There were so many things Kara didn’t know, because humans raised her.  It was a reality that just _was_ , that Astra couldn’t undo now. 

Just like she couldn’t undo meeting Alex.  Even if she wanted to after seeing how upset Kara was realizing that the woman Alex had visited and bonded with was her sister. 

Adoptive sister, Astra reminded herself.  Not a blood relative. 

Still, she understood Kara’s apprehension, and she didn’t want to lose Kara after just getting her back.  So, she agreed not to visit Alex again. 

It was an agreement that was proving to be pure torture.  That very night, Astra lay in bed, wondering if Alex was out on the fire escape.  Was she sad, like she had looked the other nights as Astra flew by?

Could she make her smile again, like she had the night before?

Astra lasted an hour, before hopping out of bed, and deciding that if she couldn’t go directly to Alex because she had promised Kara, she would at least hop to run into her. 

After all, if it was an accident, she wasn’t breaking a promise. 

Astra began spending time at the only place she had learned about that was specific enough for her to find: the shooting range, the only one in the city that rented out weapons for practice.

She had _ached_ to see Alex.  It was the way she ached to talk to Alex after the first few times she flew past her.  The ache that cracked open the center of her chest and made her wring her hands.  The human, and the way she wiped tears from her eyes after laughing too hard, and the way she wrapped her fingers around a bicep that didn’t even know it needed to be gripped until it was, the way she did everything that was just pure _Alex_ —it was the first thing Astra thought about every morning.

Saying the words that she wouldn’t go see her to Kara didn’t make the feelings go away.

It was the difference between waking because one was on a military based and would be forced out of bed if necessary, and waking because someone made her heart pump enough to want to move.

The fact that it had only taken Alex three nights to show up Astra considered luck.  She would have waited as long as it took to see Alex again.

The third night, when she saw Alex come in, her short red hair waving in perfect curls, cupping the “S” curves of her cheekbones in a way that her hands immediately ached to, Astra knew she would be breaking her promise. 

_I hope my aim is still as good as it used to be._

 


	5. Bridge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy heck, I had no idea there was going to be something called "General Danvers Week", so wow did I get a pleasant surprise starting a few days ago! I figured if so many, many amazing writers were posting things, I needed to update my own!   
> Also, this is totally out of control at this point, as it was envisioned as a 4 chapter short, and yet, here we are at chapter 5...ETA 8 chapters maybe? Not updating the official chapter counter because, well, commitment issues :)   
> *Italics are flashback

The wet, open-mouthed kisses that Alex trailed down the center of Astra’s chest signaled to the Kryptonian that Alex, too, was awakened by the sunlight starting to stream in between the curtains.

The agent didn’t know coherently if she was trying to entice Astra for another round, or if she should slow down, merely appreciating the taste and feel of surprisingly sweet, soft skin.  She moved on instinct—that her mouth needed to seek out and feel more, more softness.

More nipple.

Astra allowed the corners of her mouth to pull up, in a smirk more than a grin, but still keeping her eyes closed. 

If Alex wanted to be her wake up call, she would prolong it for as long as possible. Even though it was very clearly morning, after last night she knew they couldn’t have slept for more than three or four hours, but every one of them were spent wrapped up in protective arms. She swallowed, clenching her jaw to keep a moan from escaping, using all of her strength not to move her arms to where they wanted to be—wrapped around the back of Alex’s head, keeping her close. 

Alex didn’t need to be held close to stay that way, using her tongue to gently trace the Kryptonian’s areola, licking gentle patterns, alternating between using the tip of her tongue and lovingly dragging her whole, flat tongue across the nipple. 

As she pulled the entire nipple into her mouth, surrounding the bud with suction, Alex’s breathing went into a pant through her nose, knowing this was becoming much more than a wake-up call. Astra’s nipples were perfect, and the agent learned the night before that she wanted them in her mouth as much as possible.

Astra was no longer able to stifle the moan that bubbled up in her throat. 

The sound caused Alex to smile, giving her the confidence to kiss across the muscular torso to the other side, surrounding the nipple with the warmth and care of her mouth. 

Astra was no longer able to keep her hands off Alex either, and allowed her hands to move, cradling fine, red strands.

* * *

 

_The Night Before:_

_“You’re nervous.”  Alex said, in more amazement than anything else.  She couldn’t picture Astra, the confident, cocky woman that she was coming to know as anything less than in-charge.  Yet, here she was, shifting her gaze around Alex’s apartment, hands having just the slightest, barely noticeable shake._

_Unless you’re a highly trained DEO special agent.  In which case, the shaking is noticed immediately._

_“I’m sorry.”  Was Astra’s reply, giving Alex a shy smile.  “I’ve just never…”_

_It was Alex’s turn to give Astra a smile._

_“Never…what was that? Are you assuming you’re getting lucky tonight?”  Alex teased, happy that it seemed to relax Astra._

_“Well,” Astra’s hands stopped shaking, as the banter gave the woman her swagger back, “You didn’t invite me up for coffee.  Or to watch a movie. Or any other sad excuse to lure a woman back to your quarters.”_

_Alex moved closer, until she was standing an inch apart from Astra, pausing to let their bodies’ natural electricity run through the tiny gap between them._

_“I didn’t. You didn’t need to be given some lame excuse.”  Alex’s breath came out with a hint of rasp._

_The agent was almost daring the Kryptonian to make the first move, letting the space between them be for breath and pulse._

_Alex felt a mouth moving in closer, pressing into her once, then twice, before a full body followed suit._

_Hands moved around to her shoulder blades._

_A tongue swiping at her lips._

_Fingers grasping, seemingly offended by a cloth barrier._

_A leg moved between her own, deliberately pushing up, just a tad bit too hard, causing Alex to gasp, her body leaping back._

_“Sorry!”  Astra panted out._

_“It’s okay.  Just, a little gentler?”  Alex asked delicately, moving back in close, so that Astra knew it was alright, as long as she adjusted her strength down._

_“I didn’t mean—I’ve just never done this before.  With another woman.  Or with a human.”_

_Alex took Astra’s hands, placing them back around her body, drawing her in._

_“Okay.  Just like you were doing.  With light pressure, okay?”  Alex wrapped her hands around Astra’s neck, pulling her back into kiss.  She felt the Kryptonian’s hands gently back on her shoulder blades, cradling Alex so softly, stroking up and down._

_Alex liked being wrapped up in strong arms.  She was usually the stronger one when she brought a woman home._

_She was also usually drunk, so this was a change of pace that she was unaware would be so welcome._

_Astra’s tongue began probing deeper, still stroking gently._

_It was very, very welcome indeed._

_Alex made that fact know when she moaned, threading her fingers through the hair at the base of Astra’s neck, pressing as much of their bodies together as possible while remaining standing._

_Neither of the women really noticed as piece after piece of clothing peeled away, undressing each other, but keeping their mouths sealed as much as possible._

_Until the back of Alex’s legs had been backed into the bed, causing her to fall back with a gasp._

* * *

 

“Yes. Yes. Yes. _Yes. Yes._ ” Astra resumed her chant from the night before, this time with a raise in pitch, Alex getting to feel the words breathed into her lips this time rather than from between Astra’s legs.  Astra loved having Alex buried inside of her, as though just the thought that it was Alex touching inside her body that could unravel her. She oscillated back and forth between “Yes!” and “Alex!” in a way that only drove Alex to experiment with just how deep two human fingers could go, pumping in and out every inch in long, steady strokes. 

Both could hear the wetness soaking those skilled, steady fingers, dripping down to what would certainly be making a wet spot on the sheets. 

Neither woman cared. 

Alex had enjoyed hearing Astra’s lovemaking chant the evening before from between the soldier’s thighs, but there was something about staying face-to-face, getting to see the Kryptonian’s eyes flutter, the strain of her throat, the—

“Yesssssss.”  The hiss and flush of coming pinned under Alex’s body, fingers still pumping and curling but at a slower rate, feeling the muscles around them squeeze and pump.  Alex kissed along Astra’s jaw, tenderly showering her with affection to balance the roughness her hand had spent the morning engaging in.  Astra steadied her breathing, unwrapping her hands from the sheets to move them to Alex’s sides, pulling the woman down closer on top of her. 

The human was more than happy to acquiesce, moving her kisses to a waiting mouth. 

* * *

 

_Astra stroked her hand up and down Alex’s back, kissing along her spine gently.  The Kryptonian couldn’t stop kissing Alex’s body.  She had an unexplained desire for her mouth to reach every inch of Alex—twice._

_Alex had been more than happy to roll onto her stomach at Astra’s prompting, still coming down from coming in the Paladin General’s mouth, enjoying the affection of Astra’s hands and lips.  She had a heightened awareness of how Astra’s mouth was working on her skin, how lips fluttering over skin felt different than the tip of her tongue, or when a cheek rubbed against her, yet another way for her lover to feel the comfort of her skin._

_Astra was in awe of Alex Danvers, and had been from the moment they had climbed into the bed together.  Alex had taken her hand in her own, and shown her how to touch her.  Alex, who then allowed her to do the same with her mouth, letting her place her tongue on the softest, most sensitive part of her body, and Astra was grateful for it, every drop._

_And now, she stroked Alex’s skin, nuzzling with her nose, letting her lips identify each individual freckle, feeling Alex hum in contentment._

* * *

 

Alex knew that her phone was buzzing while her hand had been buried in Astra that morning. 

She was consciously ignoring it.  Her phone had a very loud, obnoxious alarm “page” setting that the DEO could activate if it were an emergency.  So clearly, whomever was on the other end of the morning call was not experiencing an emergency. 

She and Astra both ignored it as Alex made them fresh waffles, pretending this wasn’t only the second time she’d used this waffle iron in its entire year-long existence, not caring to even check the screen to see who it was. 

Alex decided unconsciously that Astra time was only for her and Astra, as she still didn’t know basics like where Astra lived, when she would see her again, and other important things they should probably talk about now that they’d transitioned to being lovers.  But for now, she was content to watch Astra’s every move—the way her strong, sharp jawlines looked as she chewed, the way she tapped the corners of her mouth with a napkin after each bite, as though she was Kryptonian royalty rather than a military officer.

The entire outside world could wait, because Alex also had another phone call to ignore while in she showered with Astra, getting in a lot more kisses than actual cleaning motions.

Alex was starting to feel very, very spoiled.  Having breakfast with Astra.  Showering with Astra. Waking up with Astra.  Waking Astra up. 

She could get used to this. 

So used to it that she didn’t notice when the phone stopped buzzing, any idea about eventually needing to check her missed call history long gone. 

 


	6. Chapter 6

“Alex, how could you. Just tell me that it isn’t true, and that Kara’s twisting things around. You know how she gets when she’s all agitated.”

“When she’s agitated?!”

Alex glared at Astra. In every crazy scenario she could have ever thought of, she could even fathom—not once did she think she would learn that the woman she spent the night with before was not just the same species as Kara. 

That she was actually Kara’s aunt. 

At least as soon as she picked up the phone and her mother had started berating her—during which Alex put two and two together rather quickly. Astra had the decency at least to look sheepish.

“Is it true, Alex? Maybe she just got confused, and meant to say that you and Astra have become close friends. I mean Alex, honestly. It’s Kara’s Aunt. Which means she’s your aunt by association.”

“It’s true.” Astra said quietly from the couch, knowing Alex could hear her but the human on the other end of the phone line couldn’t. 

Alex shot Astra a look that actually intimidated the woman who could probably pick up her entire building if she had enough adrenaline pumping. Regardless as to how strong Astra may be, she had never dealt with an angry Danvers before.

So much for basking in the afterglow.

“No, Mom, she’s not my aunt. And I don’t get how you and Kara are even thinking like that. We are not related.” 

Astra watched Alex pace, her hands becoming quite animated as she went back and forth angrily. She knew better than to approach Alex. 

Of course, if Alex had known that the conversation with her mother was going to be an attack, she wouldn’t have answered with Astra still here. Then again, she might not have answered at all, which means she doesn’t know when Astra would have told her that not only did she know her sister, but held her as a baby, which Alex was pushing down to save as a conversation for later. 

Astra found Alex stunning, even as she argued with her family. Even when she was throwing angry looks in her direction, even as she defended her choice in mate. She tried to think about what would happen if she were in the same situation, if Alura had been adopted by a family, and their mother was angry with her for developing feelings for a non-blood family member. She tried, and tried to make the scenario fit in her head, but she couldn’t. This situation was too unique to try to draw a parallel. 

“Well, no, Mom. I don’t need your approval to date someone. Or Kara’s.”

It was difficult to see Alex in an argument and not go over and offer some form of comfort—as the agent was beautiful, even while aggravated, the argument only showing the prominence of her jawline. A very kissable jawline. Astra thought of it as the jawline that launched a thousand butterflies in her stomach, even now. But, the paladin kept her fists balled at her sides, giving Alex her room to pace, hands aching to run soothingly up and down her back. She wanted to offer some show of affection. However, the look on Alex's face made her question if such a gesture would be welcome.

At the very least, while Astra was sorry Alex was fighting with her mother over her, she felt validated that not only did Alex say that she was seeing Astra right away, but that she could hear the conversation openly. 

Even though it was just now clicking in the Kryptonian’s head that maybe she should have had this conversation with Alex first.

“I know it’s going to be weird for her. I haven’t even talked to her about it very much. I mentioned that I was interested in someone but that was a couple of days ago. No. She’s important to me, Mom. Stop calling her that. Her name is Astra.”

Whether Alex were aware of it or not, Astra could hear the voice coming through the phone. She couldn’t blame the woman, she was concerned for an upset Kara, who had apparently come over the night before in a fit over what she called Alex “seducing” her Aunt.  
Astra had to mull that one over. Had Alex seduced her, or had she done the seducing? 

“You know what, Mom? I’m not willing to discuss my sex life further with you. Yes, I am with Kara’s aunt. We’re not going to keep referring to her as Kara’s aunt, she has a name, and I will reiterate again she’s not my aunt. If you have a problem with it, fine! Because you don’t have to come over and see it! And you know what? Neither does Kara. I’m assuming she’s still there. You can let her know she can have her movie night tonight with you, and not to bother coming over later. I wouldn’t want my face that has been attached to her aunt’s to repel her.”

“Alex, you don’t mean that--” 

“I do though. I’ve had it. It’s always Kara, Kara, Kara. Guess what, Mom. She’s an adult now. An adult who still gets away with acting like a spoiled little kid because you let her. She doesn’t always need to get her way, and she certainly doesn’t dictate my life. I mean it. Tell her not to come over here.” 

Astra’s eyebrows went up. She was not liking the direction that this was going in at all. Not one bit. She wasn’t willing to give up Alex, not for anyone—but she wasn’t going to drive a wedge between two sisters either. She knew very well that taking a stand on principle would do just that.

Astra’s ears perked up over the sound of Alex’s mother continuing to pressure her to give everything so far a second thought. She could hear it clearly, about a mile and a half away. 

Metal grinding into metal. People on the street screaming. More metal clashing with metal. It was clearly an accident, and from the number of times Astra heard the sound of impact, a multi-car pile-up. Alex was still arguing with her mother as she changed into her jumpsuit in less than three seconds, then speeding right to Alex’s face. 

“Accident. I have to go.” 

Alex nodded, confused, but allowed the kiss to her cheek that followed before Astra went leaping out of her window. 

“Alex, you are smart. You are an intelligent, pretty, outgoing woman with a good job. Are you honestly telling me you couldn’t pick up anyone else?”

Alex rolled her eyes for the twelfth time during the conversation. 

“I’m not dating someone because I can’t get anyone else, but thank you for continuing to be as insulting as possible, even though again my love life isn’t up for debate.” 

Alex heard a whoosh in the background, and a “Mom, I gotta go.” 

“What was that?” Alex asked. 

“An accident just came on the news. Big highway pile-up. Kara’s going.” 

Alex nodded, even though nobody would hear her. It must’ve been the same accident that caught Astra’s attention. 

She thought it was strange that Astra could know an accident had happened, while Kara always had to catch it on the news. 

Alex also realized that she really needed to start asking Astra for more details on what she did for a living, while hoping that Astra wouldn’t ask for more details about her own career.  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
This type of accident was routine to the soldier. 

Move so fast that it creates a dust blur, no earthling blinks an eye, because they think it’s dust or debris from the accident. 

Keep the full long-sleeved suit on at all accident sites. It’s made to deflect light and aid with never being seen.

Pull all bodies out of the cars so fast they “remember” it as being ejected from the accident, putting the most injured the closest to where the ambulances would pull up.

Or Supergirl, as the case sometimes would be. 

If ambulances or Supergirl don't show, administer your healing powers. 

Astra had pulled the last accident victim, a scrawny teenage boy with a gash on his head that was sure evidence that he was hit hard enough for a concussion, when Kara flew in, immediately moving the banged-up piles of steel out of the way, while directing the accident victims to safety. 

Or she was, at least, until she very clearly, with Kryptonian vision that could see someone moving so fast it would be an unrecognizable blur to a human, saw that Astra was the cause of all the swirls of dirt, jaw going slack as she watched her aunt deposit the boy on the side of the road, before looking up and making eye contact. 

She saw Astra’s eyes go wide, before the woman shot straight up into the sky. 

“How did she know before me?” Kara wonder for a split second aloud, before the accident scene before her took in all her attention.  
She had, however, watched Astra long enough to see what direction she took off towards.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
“You can honestly tell me that a Kryptonian dropped from the sky, and it didn’t occur to you that she was related to Kara.” 

Alex was getting tired. She knew if she let it continue, her mother’s only strategy of trying to wear her down would only put her to sleep. Yet still, a deep part of Alex simply wanted her mother to be happy for her. To be nice about something that Alex was happy about. 

To be fair, the last couple of years she hadn’t had enough to be happy about to even try to talk it over with her mother. 

But now, she was happy. Even though Astra should have been the one to deliver this new piece of information, when she thought about Astra—she was happy.

A week ago, she was not happy. She worked. She hung out with Kara. She had the adrenaline of a good alien fight, but then would sit home in pain the next day with a bottle of whatever the corner store special was, waiting for the bruises to heal. Occasionally, she could pick up a woman for a night. 

Just a night. 

She’d never actually encountered someone before that she could tell her sister was an alien. 

Alex wondered for a brief moment if Astra could be the person she also told about what she actually did all day. 

“Okay. Well, now that you know, Alex, you have to call it off.” 

Alex put her hands back in her head. 

One step forward, two steps back. 

“I am doing no such thing.” 

“Well, then you’re going to have a very unhappy sister on your hands.” 

“I guess I will then.” Alex hit the red “end call” button on her phone, immediately smiling.

She had never hung up on her mother in order to get the last word. 

It felt good.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Astra heard the frantic knocking on the door to her room in the barracks, knowing there were only two people who it could possibly be. She also wasn’t sure which one she wanted it to be—or which one would be angrier right now. 

“Seriously?” Was the first word out of Kara’s mouth when she opened the door. “You told me you wouldn’t see her again.” 

Astra pursed her lips, knowing Kara most likely had a lot of emotions she needed to get out. Instead of arguing, she opened the door for Kara to come in. 

The younger Kryptonian looked around, not surprised that Astra’s living accommodations were simply a private dorm room, the only word on her nameplate outside on the door stating “General”. It did surprise her slightly that not everything was black or camouflage—that Astra had actually decorated. 

By military standards, Astra’s living space was generous—not only did she not have to share a room, she didn’t have to check in or out, coming and going as she pleased. Her room also was large enough for a couch, and a small kitchenette area. She had up framed pictures from the tropical rainforest. Kara didn’t know that the Amazon was her favorite place on earth, and she flew there frequently, each time seeing more and more animal species that she didn’t even know existed. 

And now, in practice, not just in theory, she could have visitors.

“What are you doing with Alex?” Kara’s arms were crossed over her uniform, teeth grinding both before and after the question. 

Astra took a deep breath, moving so that she was face-to-face with Kara. She looked down for a moment, steadying her nerves, before looking up to speak directly into Kara’s hardened line of sight. 

“Loving her.” Was the response that caused Supergirl to soften, in both body and tone, holding Astra’s gaze. 

It wasn’t a response at all. It sounded like a confession.

It sounded honest.

Out of all the answers Kara had pictured as she flew in the exact flight pattern she had seen her aunt take off in earlier in the day, that wasn’t on the list. 

Kara stumbled for a moment in her own mind. 

“Can I sit?” She asked, motioning towards the couch. 

Astra busied herself at the kitchenette making coffee. She knew they were going to need it.


	7. Sensitive Seven

 

Astra was trying to be so, so careful while talking to Kara.

She knew that having Kara accept that she was now energetically imprinted upon Alex in the most intimate way possible would mean detangling the parts of that reality that are sexual as far away from the conversation as possible.

Apparently, Kara was going to make that as difficult as she could.

"So then you followed this whimsical, magical, too-good-to-be-true infatuation night with actually having sex with my sister. After you told me you'd stay away from her. You do the exact opposite.  And without clothes on." 

Since that's exactly the kind of thing pre-teen Kara would have said, Astra had half expected it, and didn't have any coffee in her mouth to surprise-spray out. 

She did, however, humor the younger Kryptonian with a cocked eyebrow. 

"And how do you know, exactly, there were no clothes on?"� Astra intended it to be a buffer statement before explaining further, until--

"Because I saw it."

"What was that?"�

Kara looked up from her coffee cup, starting to blush.

She hadn't intended just to blurt that out, but it was true.

"I was on my way back from rescuing a family out in the country that was caught up in a flood, and I was just going to do a quick pop into Alex's to tell her what just happened. Last night. _Late_ last night." 

Astra's eyes bugged out, no longer able to control her reaction.

"Yeah...so, I thought I would just fly in through the balcony, and heard her saying your name as I got closer, so I used my x-ray vision..." 

"Oh."  Astra didn't know what to say to make that better.  As much as she wanted her niece to accept that she and Alex were very quickly forming an attachment, she most certainly did not want Kara having a visual of what that entailed. 

"Only for like a second, but that's a second of time that's burned into my memory. Ugh."� Kara visibly shuddered, as though she could shake off the image.

"So...that's when you went to your earth mother. Astra stared off to the side wondering for a brief moment what Kara had seen.  She only hoped she and Alex still had _some_ of their clothes on, and that it wasn't so late at night that they were down to nothing. 

Kara nodded, letting out an exhale. 

"I sort of freaked out. And she always makes me feel better.  Well, usually when something's upsetting Alex makes me feel better, but that wasn't an option obviously. So, I went over there and kind of just let it all out." 

Astra narrowed her eyes, catching herself.  She couldn't help but dislike that there was another woman who was not herself or her sister who raised her niece. If only Alura had gone with her, instead of intending to follow along later.  She knew it was irrational to feel jealous of the woman who clearly gave Kara so much support, but it was still difficult to hear. 

"That's why she was calling Alex every forty-five minutes."�

"I'm sorry.  I didn't think she'd freak out, well, more than I freaked out.

"Yes.  Well, I do not enjoy how she speaks to Alex."  Astra crossed her arms.

The earth woman who finished raising Kara was also Alex's mother.  It was turning over and over in her head.

Kara almost laughed, before stopping herself. "She can be--intense with Alex.  With me, it's almost like she's afraid to chastise me, even after all these years.  And when she does, she's delicate about it.  But with Alex...well, those two have always butted heads.  But she does love Alex.  A lot. She supports Alex in other ways, but when they argue--let's just say it rivals the impact of one of my punches."�

Astra smiled, wondering how she was going to fit in to this equation. 

Would she ever meet this earth mother?  Would she be introduced as Kara's aunt, or Alex's love interest? 

She was beginning to see how overly complicated this was, and how it must feel for Kara. 

"I understand, Kara.  I do."  Kara could see that the woman who was the split image of her birth mother was being genuine.  "Is there a way to make this not terrible for you?"�

"I don't know.  I mean, I want Alex to be happy.  Really, fully happy, you know?  Not just coasting through the day, getting her sense of self-worth from how much she does for other people. That's usually Alex's thing. She tells herself that as long as she's working with me, that her life is full.  But I know it's not true.  She deserves more."

"But..."� Astra led, knowing Kara was hanging onto more.

"But--fine.  I just wish it didn't involve my sister, naked, with my naked aunt on top of her. Okay? That's way too much 'naked' in one sentence with the word 'sister' in it." 

So it seems Kara had seen them.

Astra swirled around her last third of her coffee.  She would never divulge the intricacies of her relationship with Alex, or any sexual relationship with anyone to her niece.  Even though Kara is a full grown adult woman.  But a sister/sister relationship is different, she knew from experience.  She would be used to a different kind of conversation with her sister when one of them had a lover.

And now Astra was swinging in, asking Kara and Alex to change that relationship dynamic. 

The guilt washed over her.

"I know.  I just don't know how to make this so everyone can be fulfilled here. If Alex and I do stop seeing each other, it would rip out a part of my soul.  I know that, I still feel her in my core."�

"Gross.  Come on--"�

Astra chuckled.  "That was not a sexual metaphor, little one.  Again, I am reminded of how little you know about your Kryptonian self, because you were raised to think you're an earthling.  You are not.  When you meet someone who is a match to your frequency, you will feel it deeply. Right down the middle of your body. I am being literal.  I felt it when I first saw Alex."  Astra patted the middle of her chest.

"Huh."  Kara thought for a moment.  She thought about how Astra had made it to the accident before her.  How much did she not even know about herself as a Kryptonian because she was raised to be human? 

"Kara, I want to be in your life now that we're both here.  Can that happen?" 

"Of course."  Kara said.

And she meant it.  She knew earlier when she demanded Astra stop seeing Alex that she wasn't being fair.  Not really.  Not now that she knew their entanglement was about feelings, and not just Alex picking someone up in a bar.

"I mean, of course and I would like that.  I want that too." Kara reached out her hand, putting it on her Aunt's. 

Astra couldn't stop the wide smile that broke out.  "Okay, then tell me everything."

"Everything?"� Kara fished.

"Yes.  You've been here for what, twelve years?  So start there.  Twelve years ago." 

**__________________________________________________________**

Alex looked at the blinking alert for Facetime on her phone. 

"Of course she wants to yell some more, but only if she can do it to my face." 

Alex wiped away her tears.  She had spent the last hour in silence, having a mini-internal breakdown since hanging up on her mother.  The overflow of all the emotions from the night before, followed by the realization that Astra was intimate with her while leaving out a very important family trivia fact, followed by fighting with her mother--an activity that she was attempting to limit to less than once a month, and Astra flying off to who knows what kind of accident and not coming back, and she _still_ didn't know where to find her...

Alex's phone kept dinging, so Alex quick sprinkled some water on her face from her glass, wiping it with a napkin, hoping that erased the tear trail marks before hitting "accept". 

"Alex! Good grief, if you think--Alex, what happened?" 

Alex looked at the camera, knowing that _of course_ that little sprinkle job didn't erase an hour of slow-crying. 

She picked up her water, taking a big gulp, before agreeing to make eye contact through the screen on the phone. 

"Mom. You know what happened, okay?"�

Eliza Danvers, for her part, looked both bewildered and concerned. She had Alex were both stubborn, and she had many past arguments with Alex, but never had she seen Alex like this. 

"Alex, sweetheart." Eliza pursed her lips. "Did that woman do this to you?"�

Alex rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of the question. 

"You mean did _Astra_ upset me?  Do you suddenly care?"  Alex felt herself starting to lash out, but as always when her mother was frustrating her, she couldn't help it.

"Alex, I _do_ care.  I just--alright. Let's just agree to forget for a moment that she's Kara's aunt. Who is much, _much_ older than you-Alexandra Danvers, you do not need to roll your eyes--so let's just put a pin in that for now.  Tell me what happened, Alex?" 

Oh, it was tempting.  It was tempting to walk into her mother's offer of care and concern.  But Alex was afraid that if she really agreed to "put a pin in it"� and talk about anything further, it would only give her mother another round of ammunition for a future round.  She most certainly would not be letting on that she didn't know Astra was Kara's Aunt, even though now she felt foolish for not even considering that the woman who she immediately felt comfortable and familiar with would at least know Kara, if not have been related. 

"I can't, Mom."  Alex shook her head.  She was done with the crying, she felt good and wrung out. Â But she couldn't promise that if she were baited, that she would also be done with arguing.

"Alex, I know I was rough on you earlier.  And I know you think it's just me letting Kara have her way, because I spoil the baby of the family, but it's not just concern for Kara.  Alexandra, in ten years of adulthood you've never dated anybody.  At least not that you've brought home.  The last time I saw you date someone was that awkward boy with that long hippie hair when you were eighteen." 

_Yeah Mom.  That should have been a clue--when I liked him because he looked like a girl from behind._

Alex made the executive decision to keep that fodder inside.

"I know.  I just..."� Alex looked like her eyes were trailing off to Eliza, when in actuality her line of sight started taking inventory of the liquor cabinet.

"Alex, please talk to me.  No more fighting tonight.  I promise." 

It was enough to snap Alex's eyes back to the phone.  At the very least, Alex knew her mother never made a promise unless she meant it. 

She looked at Eliza, searching for any trace of a follow up statement--some kind of "but"� or "unless"� or any other uneasy disqualifier. 

None came.  Alex exhaled, signaling her agreement to the terms.

"I just--I don't know.  I didn't ever really want you to bring it up.  My dating life, I mean.  Because I'm not really...well, not someone who's been big on commitment."  Alex paused to see if there would be a reaction.  When her mother simply nodded, she continued, "I haven't really made it a focus.  I just-well, I was never--I mean, there were women, but..."�

"But?"  Eliza led, hoping to help Alex organize her thoughts.  Alex shrugged.

"I've never had someone swoop in and sweep me off my feet."�

Eliza smiled.

"I'd want nothing less for you, Alex.  That's what it was like when I met your father. I'm glad you held out, and didn't bring home a string of losers." 

"So you're okay with this?"� Alex added, a little too hopefully. 

Eliza thought about it for a moment.  She wasn't okay with it.  But she knew the answer couldn't be a flat out "no".  It would crush Alex. 

"I think that I would like to get to know this Astra person.  She's going to be in our lives now,"� Eliza consciously left out the 'because she's Kara's Aunt' clause, "so she should be included in things.  I think it would be a good idea. I should see her face to face." 

Eliza promised right there that no matter what happened with Alex and Astra, she had to at least attempt to know the alien, as she was now Kara's closest family member.

"Okay."  Alex said, surprising Eliza on choosing not to argue. 

"Okay?"  Eliza double-checked.

"Yes. I'll talk to her about it."�

"Good then.  Alex, you should try to get some sleep. I know you have early mornings during the week." 

Alex agreed. "Goodnight, Mom." 

"Goodnight, Alex." 

Eliza stared at the phone for a moment after hanging up.

If Alex had agreed to let her meet Astra, then Alex was indeed very serious about her.  Which was a reality that Eliza Danvers had not expected.

She was really going to have to grill this woman to see what she was up to--with _both_ of her daughters. 

 

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, y'all...This is going to be another chapter nugget, as the next part I'm really taking my time with. BUT I couldn't just not update so...  
> Here's the nugget!

Alex Danvers was completely sure that if she didn’t pin down Astra at some point, and demand a phone number, address, and explanation regarding source of income, that she was never going to get rid of the constant anxiety that happened when Astra was the only one of the two of them who could initiate contact. 

Three days since Astra left to go handle what Alex had found out was the same accident as Kara, and Alex had heard nothing from the woman. She was too intelligent to think she was being rejected; not since she knew Astra was responding to super-calls. But, being a DEO agent, she was trying to piece the story together. It was a big story, and she could tell right away that she was missing entire chapters.  
What she knew: Astra clearly had similar responsibilities as Kara. However, Kara’s were self-driven; she had chosen to become Supergirl. Was Astra as equally self-employed in the realm of accident rescue? 

The little she knew about Astra’s background told her the answer was “no”. She was entirely too interested in weapons, as Alex was, which told Alex she had some type of training. One doesn’t just walk into a store and ask to ‘test drive’ a bazooka, especially if they can already fly and shoot laser beams from their eyeballs. No, Astra had some type of training. And from their night of talking out on the balcony, she had not only extensive knowledge of weaponry, but also of hand-to-hand combat. Involving earth weapons.

Alex wondered briefly if Astra belonged to another government department like the DEO? Was it possible to have an alien-run version of the organization like her own? 

Then again, Astra would never work for another planet’s government. The woman wasn’t beholden to Earth’s laws of gravity, there was no way she would take orders from a human. Clearly, since she had broken her promise to Kara and come back, she wasn’t taking orders from other Kryptonians either. 

Is this what missing someone felt like? Like a swirl of possibilities that ached to manifest? A craving? At any moment, she could feel the comforting presence that seemed to appear just as she most needed it, occupying a place in her sensory memory that was thoroughly Kryptonian and yet so very different from her sister.

The swift draft of air a the window couldn't have been more well aligned with the proper thought spiral.

“Uh oh. That’s Alex’s overthinking face.” Kara waltzed right in through the balcony, in her super-suit from whatever activities she had been up to all day. 

Come to think of it, Alex had no idea what Kara had been up to, as she was on a surveillance assignment all day with her—hours with a headset on listening to bar chatter and idle pool-talk at a local hotel that was suspected of illegally housing banned alien species.

“I don’t have an over-thinking face because there is no such thing as over-thinking.” Alex meant it to sound light-hearted. It didn’t come out as such. 

It was either a dead truth or a mislead lie.

“Another fun day stuck in the listening van?” Kara was just plain gloating that she wasn’t on van duty at this point, smirking, while making no motion to move her hands from her hips.

Alex rolled her eyes, moving her legs to make room for Kara on the couch. The blonde nodded, speeding into Alex’s room to change, coming up less than a second later in human sweats. 

“For all the hours I spend in there, I better hear something so illegal, and so diabolical that it makes up for all of the mindless droning. I mean criminal genius worthy of a Leonardo DiCaprio movie level.” Alex stopped herself, because her next though was back on Astra. 

Alex had decided days ago that she didn’t want to bring up anything Astra related to Kara. It was a plan that worked out well—they seemed to mutually have decided to pretend that whatever was happening wasn’t at all happening. But it was frustrating the agent, having these small one-night bursts of deep connection, skin-to-skin contact, followed by days of nothing. 

It was starting to trigger Alex’s paranoia. 

It didn’t help that one night, Alex’s Dad went off to work and never returned. 

She figured that was why she always asked Kara to come over and tell her about whatever call she was on when it was over. Not just to hear about what happened from a professional standpoint. 

It was to know that Kara was coming back at all. 

And now, from what Alex could deduce, Astra was somehow entangled in the family business, and not knowing how to get a hold of her was driving the dark-haired Danvers insane. 

She needed to squeeze Kara for information. But she didn’t want to scare Kara away. They were getting along so nicely—as long as Alex never, ever brought up Astra’s presence. 

Keeping things civil with Kara meant every minute of every day feeding the elephant in the room, the unwilling interloper between “Yes, she counts as family,” and “No, she doesn’t quite…” And the more time she spent with Kara this way, the farther apart she felt. 

It seemed to be one sided. Kara appeared anything but torn.

“Well, you know how I’m always joking that ‘the job was so easy it was getting a kitten out of a tree’? Well, this WAS a stuck kitten up a tree, but a cougar, and nobody knows how it got to National City, or if it escaped from some zoo or circus, and animal control was too afraid of it to get it down.” 

Alex forced a chuckle. “Of course, I get locked in a van for ten hours and you get to play with a big kitten all day.” 

“I knew he was growling because he was afraid. So I used my telepathy to send out calming rays in the animal frequency--”

“I’m sorry,” Alex shook her head, “you used the what, now?” 

“Oh. That.” Kara visibly swallowed. “Forget I said anything.” 

“Forget you—what? Kara, you have animal-related powers? Is this a new thing? How did I not know this?” 

Alex watched as Kara actually sealed her lips together. Like she used to when they were kids, and Kara really wanted to tell Alex something that she knew she wasn’t supposed to. 

Alex tried not to be offended.

“Kara! Is this new? Does J’onn know about this?” Alex didn’t really know what to think about Kara having full-blown abilities that she was still hiding. 

“Probably…since he’s the one who was giving me time off to go train on new things. You know, the new training…” Kara winced, knowing it was only a matter of time before Alex figured out—

“Is that why I’ve been stuck in this van all week?! Because you need time for special training sessions? Kara!” 

“Okay, fine! It’s with Astra. Okay? And I didn’t want to say that because it’s just still weird and I don’t want to talk about my Aunt to you about Aunt stuff when she’s anything BUT ‘Aunt stuff’ to you and we both weren’t bringing it up so there.” Kara crossed her arms in a huff.

“You’ve been seeing her this week?”

“Yes. I figured she would tell you if I didn’t, I guess she has a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy going too.” Kara made it a point to not divulge details, since she had spent days spending the kind of time with her Aunt she had always dreamed of, if nothing else for having a flying buddy, but clearly Alex knew nothing of it.

Alex snorted. “You could say that. Only there’s both no asking and no telling. I haven’t seen her since Mom blew up my phone over this.” The elder Danvers sister couldn’t help but throw a glare out. 

“Oh.” Kara made an effort to lower her eyebrows. “I’m sorry. Have you—tried calling her?” 

“Kara, I don’t have her phone number. Or know where she lives. She just kind of—appears here when she wants to, and actually now that I say that out loud it sounds ridiculous and like she’s holding all the power here and—Kara, do you know where I can find her?” 

Alex knew she had asked just the right question, by how Kara started sinking voluntarily into the couch cushions. 

“Find her?” Kara let out a nervous chuckle, sinking deeper into the crack between the cushions. “Like right now? Pft—what? I mean, what is finding anyway, right?”

“Kara!” 

“Fine! She’s out with Mom!”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SHE’S OUT WITH MOM, KARA?”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Winding down, y'all...one more after this one.  
> *A big thank you to MzHlf, who inspired more moved blockages than you know!

 

_Earlier_

Kara stood at the front door of her childhood home.  It was awkward for the first time, well, ever.  Since she'd been adopted by the Danvers, this house had been her home.  So she simply walked in whenever she wanted.  Even after growing up and moving out on her own, she still was in the habit of just walking in, shouting "Mom!"� when she walked in the door. 

But she couldn't exactly do that this time.  Could she?  Could she just walk into her earth family's home with her alien Aunt Astra next to her? 

She held up her hand in a fist to knock, pausing mere inches from the door, paint somehow as white as the day they had brought her home. 

"Does the notification bell not work?"� Astra snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What?"  Kara asked, not realizing her fist was still in the air. 

Astra pressed the doorbell. 

Kara laughed nervously.  Ringing the doorbell to her own family house would be even more awkward than knocking, so of course that's exactly what Astra had done.  Kara took her keys out of her purse, unlocking the door, and walking in. 

She noticed Astra's bewildered look as she walked inside, grabbing Astra's arm to tug her in. 

Astra had been inside human homes before.  Just a few nights earlier, she had snuck in and fixed a carbon monoxide leak inside the home of a family of seven.  Since they had all seemed to be content to sleep through the leak that would have killed them by morning, Astra had worked quickly and quietly to find the leak and plug it.

In those instances, there was no lingering to study the living habits of those she helped.  The number one objective on any mission was to remain undetected.  Of course, it was never foolproof.  On the rare occasion someone did see her work, she activated her light shield, so that her entire head would be illuminated with such a ball of light from her own energy reserves that while a human could acknowledge some form of being floating in their presence, they wouldn't be able to ID a face. 

Now, she was able to walk into a human home and look around. 

And further, she was about to let a human who wasn't Alex know her face.

It was unsettling, to say the least. 

"Kara, sweetie, I didn't know you were--oh.  Hi." 

Eliza Danvers had come out to find Kara visiting unexpectedly, which was very usual for the youngest Danvers.  It, however, was very unusual for Kara to have a guest. 

Especially one who Eliza could identify immediately, based on age in relation to Kara and the fact that the woman was staring intently at the many photographs of Kara and Alex as teenagers around the living space.  Even though Eliza had expressed to Kara that she'd like to meet her Aunt, Kara never said when she could.

"Mom!  Mom.  Hi. So, we were in the neighborhood."�

"You're always in the neighborhood, Kara. You live five minutes from here by flight."

"You know that she can fly?"  Astra's eyes snapped up protectively. 

"Of course she knows.  They've always know about my powers.  Mom, this is my Aunt Astra.  Aunt Astra, this is Eliza.  My earth mother." 

Astra couldn't help but stiffen to hear Kara call another woman "mother"� that wasn't her sister, but she forced the knee-jerk reaction down.  She actively reminded herself that this was the woman who found a very young, very lost Kara, took her in, raised her to the best of an earth mother's ability. 

She knew the proper thing to say was "thank you" in this circumstance.  To shake off the innate reaction.  Kara had plenty of room in her life for family members, it should be the more the merrier. 

Astra swallowed, trying not to think of Alex. 

Astra and Kara had spoken about it, and decided she should meet Eliza as Kara's Aunt first, and as Alex's suitor once Alex and Astra and spent more time together to get to know each other.  It was an agreement that Astra hadn't realized would become so difficult once she was surrounded by photographic evidence of Alex's entire life, baby bath through last family barbeque.

"Hello, Astra.  I'm glad we finally get to meet, since I've only heard of you through my girls." 

Astra forced a smile, again reminding herself that her own sister, Alura, was the reason Kara was one of this stranger's "girls", and not someone who was even aware of the scope of her basic bodily abilities. 

"Is Alex coming as well?"  Eliza asked in a way that Kara could tell was passive-aggressive, smacking herself in the head.Â 

Of course, that was going to take some smoothing over. 

Kara had thought about it, when Eliza had called her asking to meet Astra.  She knew from childhood memories that Astra was her Aunt.  But--she was trying, in light of the current situation, to think of her more like a second big sister. 

As if it wasn't confusing enough that she looked exactly like her mother.  Why not throw in another bump in the road? 

"No, Alex doesn't know that I'm here."

Eliza lifted an eyebrow.  "Well, you two should come in."�

* * *

 

_Present_

Google, Bing, and Alex's DEO deep web connections were turning up some _fascinating_ theories about aliens who acted as Supers without being seen.

Most of the theories were fueled by pure paranoia.  

After Kara had left, refusing to divulge where Astra and their mother were, only that they were still talking after Kara had excused herself to go to Alex's, Agent Danvers decided she was tired of everyone giving her little crumbs of information. 

She was a Senior DEO agent.  She had a military clearance higher than most of the President's cabinet.  She could handle Astra meeting her mother without it being a secret mission. 

She told Kara as much--albeit much more aggressively than the thought had started in her head.

She knew that Kara was right, and that Alex would have tried to stop it. Her younger sister explained that it was so Eliza could meet Astra as family first, before throwing the relationship in, hoping that it would reinforce to Eliza that Astra is here to stay and part of the family. 

Alex read each site very, very carefully.

As she had searched a very generic list of what she knew of Astra's abilities, which had come back immediately as Kryptonian on the mainstream sites, she was drawn in to more fringe message boards. 

Specifically, theories about aliens forming some sort of guardian guild, or watcher organization, that was helping humans.  Or secretly plotting world domination, depending upon which link one clicked.

Theories ranged from aliens that were helping because they were eventually going to take over the planet (not something Alex could ever see Astra doing), aliens that saved humans from disasters because they have the ability and desire to do so, aliens helping humans because they are divine beings, a meditation group that believed the aliens were really from another dimension and that when a natural disaster occurred they had the mental powers to meditate alien saviors into existence, to darker theories of the aliens helping so they could infiltrate the government and lull the earth into a false sense of security before unleashing hell on earth--rule by pure domination.

Alex really didn't think that was Astra. 

...Probably not. 

But what did she really know? She didn't know this person's...well, anything about her life. 

But she knew her essence.  Because she never learned about Astra's day job, or mundane day-to-day details like what she worn when she wasn't in a black jumpsuit, or what she's like at darts or pool, or anything else that would indicate that this was someone she had picked up in a bar. 

Instead, she had a woman appear in such a way that she wasn't bothering with the song-and-dance earth rituals to see if someone could fit into her life.

Astra already fit.  She came that way. 

Alex found a number of theories as to where these mysterious aliens lived, ranging from an underground system of tunnels, to a floating spaceship in the sky, to an unmarked city in Northern California--of course the proponents of the fifth dimension theory simply stated that the beings went back to their dimension when their work as saviors here ended for the day. 

It bothered Alex that the fringe message boards had more information that seemed plausible than any of the DEO information. She made a note for them to do a better job in hiring whoever updated their database from the field.

Alex started mapping out a chart in her head of the most likely information when she felt a _whoosh_ at the window that she had come to recognize as larger and more forceful than Kara's. 

Alex didn't even turn around. 

"Finished talking to my mother, I take it?"  Alex sat back against the couch, crossing her arms, knowing full well that it was Astra's presence behind her. 

"I did talk to your mother.  But not about you." 

Alex rolled her eyes, feeling two strong hands appear on her shoulders.  She wanted to _not_ relax into the touch, but something about Astra made her body go into cruise control. 

"I find that hard to believe, knowing my mother." 

"I promise, Alex. I went over to talk about Kara.  To meet the woman who stepped in for my sister all those years ago."  Lips made contact with a crown of red tinted brunette waves, followed by a laugh. "Alien watchers biding time until  Kryptonian planet take over--Alex, is this what you think?"  Astra kept laughing, reading the screen on Alex's laptop.

"Of course not.  But what am I supposed to think? You just show up whenever. I don't know what you do or where you go. I just--"�

Astra climbed onto the couch next to Alex, pulling her into her arms. 

Alex thought about all of the Dracula movies she'd watched over the years, when the vampire would be able to capture a woman with a thrall--overpowering their logical need to protect themselves, drawing them in. 

It wasn't unlike when Astra touched her, when she was irritated with the woman.  She was under Astra's thrall, whether the alien knew it or not. 

"Why didn't you just ask me?" 

"What?"  Alex moved her head back to look at Astra's face. 

She wasn't expecting a smile.

"You don't have to search things on the internet--things that are clearly not properly researched, anyway.  You could just ask me what you want to know."

"Oh."  _Yes, Alex.  Why didn't you just ask her instead of assuming the worst?_ Alex actually thought about all the times she could have asked Astra what her day job was, or why she always flew around in a black jumpsuit not unlike her own gear, or even for her phone number. 

However, with Astra's arms around her, rubbing circles, reminding Alex how much not only did she miss the mysterious woman but that she, in turn, was missed, she was having trouble formulating her thoughts. 

"Okay.  If I can just ask you, then--Astra, what do you do for a living?"� Astra almost wanted to laugh again at how serious Alex looked, even though there was no reason for her to be shy.  In the soldier's head, Alex was her mate.  Plain and simple. If she wanted to know something, she only needed to ask.  Although, truth be told, she was very surprised to find herself drawn to a human mate.  It was something she had never imagined for herself.

She had always imagined flying through the skies, hand-in-hand with whomever was her match. 

Now, she was fine with imagining the flying scenario while holding Alex--an alternative she couldn't have known she liked better if she hadn't tried. 

"I understand what you're asking, but I don't want to mislead you--I have a life purpose, but I don't get paid.  My job is to protect humankind. I believe my niece understood that purpose as an innate biological function long before I ever arrived here.  We are built with a desire to protect. But my job is not so different than yours.  Only we don't make arrests, we protect from crimes and save the injured."�

Alex realized she wasn't any less confused by the vague answer, which judging from Astra's beaming face at getting to finally talk about it, didn't seem vague to the Kryptonian.

"...What do you mean you don't get paid?"�

"Why would I get paid?" Astra asked, eyebrows smushing together in confusion.

"Well, I spend the day stopping crimes too.  Alien crimes--which I'm guessing you seem to already know, which tells me we're not being as stealthy as I'd like, but that's a separate problem.  I get paid, put the check in the bank, and you know, pay my rent, buy groceries, pour liquids that are halfway to poison down my throat--the things you do with money."  Alex was making little hand gestures to emphasize that she didn't understand how Astra was living without a cash flow. 

"Alex, if you didn't want people to know what you do, you should really deviate your route to work, which leads right to the only government building suspected of running a guard force against violent aliens. But to answer your question--my housing is provided, they have any food that I could need at the mess hall, and beyond that, if I feel the need for earth money to purchase something, I simply ask them for it."�

"What?"  Alex shook her head.  "So the--army? Police force? Whatever you work for...they just give you whatever you want?  What if you want a Maserati?"  Alex's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"Alex, we can function like this because I would never ask for something like that.  My needs are met.  And why would I ask for a car that I can travel faster than?"  Astra put her hand over Alex's.  "Is it so strange to you?  What I do? When it's so similar to your own line of work?"�

Alex smiled.  She wish she lived without greed or pride, but wasn't going to deny that a lot of the times she got off on the rush of winning when she slapped some cuffs on a criminal, or the fact that when the DEO made her first employment offer, the income line was twice what she was used to making, and the first though she had was that she was finally about to make her mother proud. 

Her _mother_.

"Okay, if I can just ask--what were you doing with my mother?"  Alex tried to take the sting out of her voice.

She was unsuccessful.

"Alex, we didn't talk about you."  Alex shot back a look that showed Astra just how much she believed her. "Really.  I promise.  I went over--well, this is someone I should have met years ago when I arrived on earth.  I should know the person who raised my niece and thank her." 

"So that's what you did?"�

Astra chuckled. "It did take me a couple of hours to do it.  I had to remind myself that I was angry at the situation, that Kara was lost all this time because of my sister.  So eventually, yes.  And I gave her a blue Kryptonite charm from our homeland to hang on her doorway, so that any aliens of malicious intent know that the home is protected." 

"That was--actually very thoughtful.  But you could have just told me.  Why all the sneaking?" 

Astra thought it over for a moment. 

She had limited experience with earth courtship, only knowing the differences from Krypton from what she could observe out and about, and the occasional television show, of which she couldn't stomach much--the Kryptonian had a hard time understanding why Earthlings were entertained by watching actors cause each other examples of violence and heartbreak. 

But the wheels in Astra's head were turning, and she was trying to figure out why Alex would need to know she was going somewhere first. 

As hard as she tried, she was coming up empty.

"Alex, I do believe I need some help here.  Are you unhappy because you wanted to come?" 

"Astra, are you honestly telling me you don't think you should tell me before you go meet my mother? As someone who's dating me" 

"I don't mean to cause you distres...And if you want me to talk to you before going to visit people, I can do that Alex.  I don't ever want to be the cause of you being unhappy."  Astra squeezed her hand, moving it so both of hers were covering Alex's fingers.  "But _why?"_ �

"Okay."  Alex closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. "I am trying to remember what it was like when Kara first got to earth.  And it involved a lot of conversations that echo this one.  So I''ll start here: on earth, meeting your girlfriend's parents is a very big step, and not something you'd do without your girlfriend.  So..."�

"Oh.  I can understand that.  But Alex, I wasn't meeting her as your mate.  I was meeting her as Kara's Aunt.  I very much expected to meet her again by your side." 

Alex pulled her hand away to pinch the bridge of her nose. 

"Okay, I see this one's just going to have to be a cultural difference and move on.  But also, in earth relationships, one partner would tell the other one before going somewhere of importance."�

"Oh.  As a custom?"�

"Well, as a courtesy...in case the other partner doesn't approve." 

"Why would you not approve?"  Astra could see she was irritating Alex, but this was a strange conversation indeed. 

As far as the Kryptonian knew, why would a romantic partner need the other partner's permission to go out into the world and do something? So she pressed Alex. 

"Hmm." Alex had to pause for another deep breath.  "Fine. We'll try this.  What if it were me?  What if I were going out somewhere to see someone important, but you had no idea until after?" 

"I think if you need to speak with someone important, you should do it Alex."�

"What if that important person were--I don't think you have family here besides Kara, so not a good example.  What if I were going to see an ex-lover? Would you want to know first?" 

"Alex, if there is someone you need to speak with that you've been previously intimate with, I think you should do it.  Why are you not speaking to this person if you need to?"�

"It's just a hypothetical to make a point.  When you go behind my back to talk to someone, it looks like you're hiding something."�

Astra had to stop thinking for a moment of all of the couples on dates that she'd witnessed, and instead switch her gears to the earth couples she'd seen fight in public. 

Now things were making sense. 

The accusations she'd heard shouted between partners, the jealousy...

Is this was Alex thought relationships should be like?  People hiding things until they're found out?  She hoped that wasn't what Alex thought mating should be. 

Astra re-took Alex's hands in hers, gently.  She stroked lightly with her fingertips until Alex made eye contact. 

"Alex, I would never purposefully hide something from you.  There is nothing to hide.  I feel the bond here between us. That doesn't go away when I leave the room. But I don't want you to worry, or to be upset. So, I will try to remember that you like to know about things before they happen, and it is stressful for you when you find out about an event after it happens.  Alex, you don't have to tell me first before you do things. I would never ask you not to do something or otherwise interfere with your free will." 

"Never, Astra? Honestly?  What if I told you--I don't know, that I was going on a date with someone else? Or that I was going to jump off a cliff?" 

"Well, Kryptonians bond monogamously.  So, I wouldn't take another partner, but I wouldn't tell you what to do if your heart was discontent with being monogamous with me.  And, if you're jumping off a cliff, I simply want to know which one.  Because I will catch you."  Alex didn't know what scared her more: that she was very close to believing that Astra was completely trustworthy, or that she was very seriously about catching Alex if she did walk off a cliff. 

"I--um, well."  Alex coughed, continuing her stuttering, "I guess I understand.  And I'm monogamous too, but...I guess knowing that you really wouldn't want to limit me, is--â€� _Emotionally frightening?_ "...comforting." 

Astra smiled, picking up a pen and pad from the table.  "This is our address.  Your name is on my guest list.  I had actually expected you to track me at some point, so I added you in anticipation." 

Alex shook her head, grinning. She was so worried about not knowing anything about Astra, and the woman just _handed_ her the address of her base.

"I guess it's going to take awhile to learn how to be with a Kryptonian, huh?" 

 

 


	10. Remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Short and sweet. I'm sorry that took so long--hopefully now that this is marked complete I can work on throwing out some short fics here and there--I might return to this universe. Not sure yet ;) 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's read through to this far! I love this fandom, everyone's comments, all your fics, and I can't wait for season 3!

Alex had been so skeptical of the things that Astra described. 

She had known Kara for years, and not once did she have any sort of non-human psychic connection to her sister, and not once did Kara bring it up. 

But Alex had also been under the impression that women didn’t fall from the sky, and clearly, they do, and aliens weren’t secretly running around doing the DEO’s job a whole lot faster and more efficiently, but they do…

So, when Astra tried to explain to Alex how to call her, and that it wouldn’t involve a telephone, Alex’s knee-jerk reaction was that she was being tricked, or fed a line of idealistic hopeful bullshit that wouldn’t work for a mere earthling. 

And then she was alone, and it was nighttime.  And she hadn’t seen Astra again for a couple of days—at this point she was noticing the pattern.  The agent was no longer content with just waiting around for Astra to show, and Astra liked the idea of Alex calling her into her home. 

She missed Astra.  They had had another night of talking and kissing, Alex enjoying the first night Astra would stay over that didn’t involve sex—it felt to Alex as though over the last couple of weeks their interactions were becoming more realistic and less like Alex was fumbling through a long, drawn-out dream that would de-materialize at any moment. 

Alex sat down on the couch, trying to remember Astra’s instructions.

Number one was _relax_. 

_Tall order, Danvers.  When was the last time you relaxed?_

Still, Alex tried.  Not once, ever, at all, even a little bit, had Astra attempted to mislead her. So, she had to try.  The agent reviewed in her mind the things Astra had pointed out to her that she kept tense—her jaw, her neck, anything she could consciously choose to loosen, even a little bit.

_Well…that’s as relaxed as a federal agent gets._ Alex hoped there was some sort of weighting system for how “relaxed” someone who hunted alien criminals for a living had to be. 

Step two, was to _remember_. 

That was it.  Just think about Astra, intensely enough that Astra would somehow know to come.  Alex, at that point, and reminded Astra that being an “alien” didn’t mean “magical”, even if some of her fellow humans held that belief.  Astra laughed, attempting to explain what it meant to feel Alex’s presence down the core of her body. 

“Trust me, Bright One.  You are in here.”  Astra tapped the center of her chest.  “I will know to come.” 

“Why do you call me ‘Bright One’?”

Astra smiled at the question. 

“Because you make me feel like when I’m healing in the sun.” 

So, Alex tried to remember. 

The instructions were simple: recall a time with Astra that made her feel intensely, and that feeling would come through intense enough that somehow Astra’s Kryptonian spidey-senses would know to come flying over. 

Which if Alex was being her honest human self, seemed ridiculous. 

But she also felt like she had to try. 

Alex moved herself into the most comfortable corner of the couch, trying to make sense of what she was supposed to do. 

_Remember_.  She closed her eyes, careful not to re-tense anything in her body to compensate, focusing on Astra. 

She first pictured Astra, the first features she noticed about the Kryptonian, before she realized she was entering the first stage of falling in love.  The streak in Astra’s hair was something Alex had noticed immediately, but her eyes move quickly from the touch of silver to her face—the warm expression she wore when talking to a stranger that had made Alex feel safe.

Alex knew picturing Astra wouldn’t be enough, but she didn’t know where else to start.

_But how did she make me feel?  Intrigued? Drawn in?_

It wouldn’t be strong enough to summon her mate, but at least it was a start. 

Alex didn’t realize she had started rubbing her palms up and down her thighs, as she sat with her eyes closed, moving her thoughts from first meeting Astra to the first time they kissed, trying to be as specific as possible.

She remembered thinking how strange it was that peaches on someone else’s lips tasted like peaches and the other person, a mix that seemed natural.  She remembered Astra’s arms being around her body, making every inch of her waist feel secure, as they had when they flew together, as they always did now when Astra came up from behind, wrapping arms around her waist, managing to be both firm and gentle as the pressure of a chin would appear on her shoulder. 

This was the memory that seemed to come most naturally—Astra coming up to hold her from behind.  Every time the woman did it, Alex pressed back, wanting to feel Astra along her back, feeling protected. 

It was a welcome feeling for someone who usually did the protecting. 

Alex kept her eyes shut, continuing to picture Astra holding her waist, then wrapping her arms around to the front, clasping together.  She remembered clearly what Astra’s breath felt like, as the Paladin would inevitably turn her head to bury her nose in Alex’s hair, taking in a deep inhale, then sighing out into her neck. 

Alex loved when she did that. 

Instinctively, the Agent leaned back into the couch, the way she would lean back into Astra, basking in feeling loved, stroking her hands over Astra’s, letting herself just be held. 

_Whoosh._

“Alex.”  Alex’s eyes snapped open, having felt the entrance, looking over at the window.

_I can’t believe that worked._

“You called me?”

 


End file.
